


Fixations

by MathIsMagic



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Cross Over, F/M, Fix-It, Spitfire - Freeform, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, all the feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-10 09:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 95,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/784543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathIsMagic/pseuds/MathIsMagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The turncoat villain Tigress rescues the Flash from the Legion of Doom. Things go downhill from there as she brings in other members of Wally's old 'Team' to combat a mysterious force that is eliminating the Wally Wests of every universe. Spitfire. Team and Original 7 centric. Spoilers for Endgame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Hallucination

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a while ago, and ended up adjusting it after End Game for a prompt at the YJ anon meme. Now, I'm finally cross-posting this from ff.net (which is currently further into the story, but I'll probably catch this one up soon). I hope you like it.
> 
> **Spoilers for Endgame**

His world is black and red and _pain._

“Who are you? What is your name?”

“M’Flash.” True. He’s pretty sure this is true. But it’s not what they’re asking. He can’t shake the feeling it’s very important he sticks with this answer, though.

“What is your watchtower access code?”

“Only leaguers ‘lowed on the ‘tchtower.”

There’s a snap, and pain blurs his vision anew.

“Not getting…  losing it…  break for now… heal… ‘Gress  you’ll get ‘im fixed up.”

“Perfect.”

Footsteps, a door, and sudden quiet. He’s alone now, and the part of his brain that’s coming into fuzzy focus relaxes. There won’t be much extra pain for the time being.

Scratch that. One of the Legion’s villainesses is still here, and his eyes focus on the syringe in her hands. She approaches, and rather than look at another one of his tormentors he closes his eyes and braces the best he can for another round.

He feels the needle in his arm as the woman leans close. She whispers in his ear.

“Hang tight, this shot will help kick start your metabolism.  I’m going to get you out of here, Wally.”

His eyes snap open and alight on an amber necklace before traveling up to her face.  Through the pain, and confusion and exhaustion, his heart stutters. He breathes.

“Artemis?”


	2. Emancipation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legion membership is a lifetime commitment, and getting out is much harder than getting in.

She wanted to cry when they caught him. When she saw what they did to him. (When she couldn’t save him.)

He wasn’t _her_ Wally. She knew that. But this man wore his face, his cowl, (his cheesy-can’t-help-but-love-it grin). The hell with her cover. She would not allow any Wally West to be tortured (or worse).

It was easy to hack the guard list, and ensure she was assigned to be his guard rotation. It was harder to ensure she was prepared for the opportunity. A USB containing copies of every file and plan of the Legion’s she could get her hands on was in her belt.  The syringes used to sedate her ‘patient’ had been swapped for a vitamin-antibiotic-adrenalin cocktail to get the Flash at least somewhat on his feet. Cameras were set to loop feed. Patrol details had been subtly reassigned to create gaps. Most importantly, the Legion trusted her, at least as much as a legion of super villains can trust. She had surprise on her side.

It had taken too long, and would cost much, but finally, _finally_ she could end his suffering. For _her_ Wally. Already she could see his metabolism reacting to the serum. His breathing evened out, his shaking slowed. She even though she could see some of his wounds beginning to pull together. He must have developed hyper-accelerated healing like Barry. Perfect.

“Hang tight, this shot will help kick start your metabolism. I’m going to get you out of here, Wally.”

His eyes snapped open, a deep green, like Megan’s skin, like her old arrows, like _his_  eyes – but it’s not the time for that thought. She hoped he was as trusting as her Wally, that he would let her get him out and not try to fight her-

“Artemis?”

…

…

…

No.

It wasn’t possible. (It couldn’t be.)

 _He_ wasn’t here. It was (somehow) a coincidence.

He wasn’t… she wasn’t… he _wasn’t here._

She needed to kill this hope now, before it broke her later.

“Yeah Baywatch. Your ninja girlfriend’s here to save you from her evil ninja clan.”

“S’long as you’re traught. ‘Cause don’t wan’ ya dead ‘gain.”

_Get traught, or get dead!_

It was _him._

He was _here…_

After all this time, this _was_ her…

Priorities. She had a limited window of opportunity, and she would not waste this chance. (She would not lose him again).

“Yeah, I’m traught. I know you’re not feeling the aster right now, but I need you to stay whelmed. I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?”

“Whelmed. Gotit. Lead th’ way, Arty.”

Focus. Release the cuffs. Help him stand. Check - feed’s still looping, hallway’s empty, patrols are on schedule.

“Alright, lets get out of here.”

 

XxXxX

 

It’s slow going. His arm is over her shoulders and they’re limping down every back hallway and antechamber she knows of to help them avoid detection. Luckily, he’s able to take more of his own weight at every turn, limping less, and moving faster. Thank god he’s developed accelerated healing since they’ve come here. They might even make it out of here without –

“Escape Alert! All Members of the Legion of Doom: Search Priority Alpha. Find and detain the Flash.”

Of course. And they only had two corridors to go. But now she can hear a ruckus between them and the main door. Plan B it is. He staggers a little as she picks up the pace, dragging him down a side hallway in the opposite direction of the commotion. Front door’s out, but if Robin taught her anything (besides how to butcher the English language) it’s how to make her own door.

“Well, well ,well. If it isn’t the Tiger bitch.”  A lithe figure dropped to the ground in front of them.  Artemis growls under her breath and Cheetah bares her teeth and extends her claws. “Gone soft, kitten? Trying to help the little hero escape?”

 _We do not have time for this,_ Artemis thinks as she leans Wally against the wall, never taking her eyes form her opponent. At the same time, she slides a hand to her back and grasps her sword. When Cheetah lunges, Artemis _moves._

The cat-villain is out of her league, and Artemis easily blocks claws with her sword, twisting them to the side. This leaves Cheetah open for a sedative-coated senbon to be stuck in her shoulder. She’s down and out for the count in less than thirty seconds, but it’s enough time for others to locate them.

Metallo crashes around the corner, and she dodges his right hook. A flipping sweep takes out the cyborg’s legs, but as she rolls to ready her next attack she sees movement in the corner of her eye. Gorrilla Grodd has a gun aimed at her chest. He doesn’t waste the shot with a monologue. Just a smirk. Then the gun cracks. Red fills her vision.

She’s in Wally’s arms, face pressed into the chest of his Flash suit. They’re standing in a different hallway than before.

“Won’t let him… touch you, not that… darned dirty ape.” He huffs into her hair.

She snorts. He always had to have the witty comeback.

“Thanks for the save, but lets save the references for after we get out, alright, Kid Mouth?”

She looks up as he nods. A quick glance shows her what that escape cost them and she becomes serious again. His face is white with pain and he has to lean against the wall to keep himself from slumping to the floor. And – is his side a darker red than the rest of his suit? She knew his sessions had snapped a couple of ribs. Even with his healing, that run must have snapped them again. If one pierced his side, their escape had only become more urgent. And now he’ll have used up most of the boost her serum gave him.

His eyes say he knows he’s in trouble. It was definitely too soon for him to try that, but he’s not going to mention the new points of screaming pain until they – _she_ – is out safe.

“You did good, Baywatch. This is an outer wall. A few charges…”

“And we make a door Supey-style.” His smile is more grin than grimace despite the pain.

“Yeah, just like Supey.” She agrees, and begins assembling the charges from her supplies.

She’s almost done when a beam of light blasts her back.

“Going somewhere?” Sinestro hovers menacingly, blocking the only exit to this corridor.

Damn it. Artemis doesn’t have anything in her arsenal to take on the yellow Lantern. She might be able to distract him… Wally could get away…

She throws the last charge at Sinestro, and presses the trigger.

She’s slammed into the floor at Wally’s side as debris blows over them from two sides. Sinestro was too close to the last charge though. He had been forced to raise a shield. She rolled to her feet, ready to cover Wally’s escape.

“Oh, hey.” Cough. “My Comm’s working now. Watchtower this is,” Cough. “Flash.“

Sinestro is up, and unharmed from the explosion. She can’t take him on. She doesn’t know his weakness…

“Teleportation. Yeah. Me and the person next to me.”

He’s going to blast her again. Wally’s behind her, she won’t dodge. Just bring her sword up to try and block…

 “Now!” 

“Wha-?” Artemis’s world dissolved, and she stumbled as she materialized on the watchtower’s teleportation platform. “Ugh.”

“Release the Flash, Tigress. You can’t possibly hope to take us all.” What? Oh, right. She’s a villain. Who materialized in the home base of the Justice League. In front of dozens of heroes. While standing over a bleeding founding member. With her weapons drawn. Not good.

“ ’Lax guys. She’s ‘kay. She’s my ninja girlfriend.”

She had forgotten that she didn’t always miss Wally’s big mouth.


	3. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this chapter. I had a little fun with it. Also, I'm looking for a beta, if anyone's interested...

_“ ’Lax guys. She’s ‘kay. She’s my ninja girlfriend.”_

With that, Flash slumps to the teleporter floor, the pool of crimson growing from his side obvious to all.  The villain, Tigress crouches over him, and that’s too much for John. He had more than enough willpower to protect Wally in his injured, confused state.  A glowing green hand materializes and yanks the woman away from his friend before slamming her into the ground.

 

“I told you to stay away from him.” He’s knocked the wind out of her, but still she struggles in his ring’s grip.

 

“He needs medical help.” He snorts. As if he would loosen his grip on this torturer just because she expressed fake worry for Flash.

 

“Besides the obvious, he’s got broken ribs, they’ll need to check for punctured organs. Scan for drugs before you put anything else into his system. Except nutrients. His metabolism’s undernourished, but if you can kick-start that and set the broken bones, he’ll be able to start recovering some on his own.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, we heard you, girlie. We’re just not going to listen to the one who did this to him.” Hawkgirl advanced on her, brandishing her mace.

 

The dark-haired woman is clearly unimpressed. “Will you forget that? He needs medical, Stat!”

 

“Why I oughta…” Shayera raised her mace, ready to shut up the villain that had hurt her friend, her little brother so cruelly.

 

“No! Stop!” John focused back on the platform where J’onn was aiding a technician with Flash’s wounds. The speedster is struggling against both his injuries and his Martian friend’s firm hands. If John didn’t know better, he’d think the man looked worried for the villain.

 

“Told ya. She’s ‘kay.” The injured hero slurred again.

 

“Hush Flash. You need to conserve your strength.” Wally continues to struggle against J’onn, but the technician jabs a needle in his arm, and the red-suited hero finally slumps into unconsciousness. “I’ll take him to the sick bay. And it won’t hurt to test her claims.”

 

With their departure, the woman finally stops fighting him. Superman is running damage control, keeping the other heroes away from their wounded comrade and his tormentor, allowing the Green Lantern to advance on her.

 

“I’ll take her to the detention cells. We’ll find out what’s going on.” He announces to the room. He’d take the first crack at interrogating her. And he’d enjoy it.

 

 

“I told you. Contact Batman. I’m not saying anything until you let me see him.”

 

“And I told you, you don’t get to demand to see Batman any more than you get to demand to see Flash.”

 

“Then I’m not telling you anything!”

 

Superman took a deep breath, and stalked out of the cell before he did something he would regret. He would _not_ harm her. Especially not after dealing with the Question’s insinuations for the past two weeks of Flash’s disappearance. They had all been frantic, of course, but Question in particular seemed convinced this would push him into becoming Lord Superman. But their friend was safe, and stable. _He would not kill._

 

“Six hours. It is impressive that we have been unable to get _anything_ from her in that time.”  J’onn intoned as Clark stepped into the observation room.

 

“Certainly not from lack from trying.” They watched as Question took a turn with the prisoner.

 

_“Something tells me you have some of the answers to the conspiracy. I just need the right questions.”_

_“Aren’t you the one dating Huntress?”_

_“No, I do not believe that is the question that needs to be asked here.”_

The woman cracked up, as if she was aware of some inside joke.

 

“So her first statement not about Batman or Flash is about Q’s love life? What does that tell us?” The Man of Steel wondered.

 

“Not the Question’s love life. Huntress’s,” came a growl from the corner. It seemed the Dark Knight had finally deigned  to grace them with his presence.

 

“Gosh darn it, Bruce. I hate when you sneak up on us like that.”

 

“What do you mean, she was asking about Huntress?” Batman ignored them both, instead examining the feed from the interrogation room.

 

“Debrief. Now.”

 

Clark sighs, but knows better than to test the man’s recalcitrance in a situation like this. He would never admit it, but the dark hero had been worried about his comrade – his friend. Knowing Bruce, he had been pulling double shifts, using all of Batman’s considerable resources to track down the missing hero who held the League together.

 

 “About six hours ago, Flash’s Comm and locator came back online. He requested immediate teleportation to the Watchtower for himself and the person next to him. Flash is stable and healing now, since you won’t ask, but he was in a bad way when they first appeared. We don’t know if she was the wrong person to grab, or if he was confused as to her intentions.  Also, he called her his ‘ninja girlfriend.’” Here he can’t hold back a snort. “John detained her, and we’ve been unable to get much out of her since. She keeps asking to speak to you, actually. We thought it might be a trap.”

 

“J’onn?”

 

“I do not know how, but her mind is guarded from mine. It is almost as if she is familiar with how Martian telepathy works… We have also been unable to hail Wonder Woman since she left to tap her resources in Themyscira. We felt it best to continue manual interrogation until Diana could return with her Lasso.”

 

The Dark Knight sighed with… Clark would label it weariness if he didn’t know any better. “Pull Question out. I’ll speak to her.” He turned towards the door only to find the Martian blocking his way.

 

“Batman, I must protest. This could be a trap.”

 

“It’s not, J’onn.”

 

“But Bruce, you don’t know-!” Batman waved away the Kryptonian’s protest.

 

“Yes, I do.”

 XxXxX

 

If she hadn’t worked with the Bat for so many years, she wouldn’t have known he was there. It was his style, intimidating his ‘victims’ with imposing silence, steely glares, and his infamous tendency to appear as if from no where. She remembered how impressed she had been the first time she met him in person. She had never seen anyone move like him. Not Jade, not Sportsmaster, not any of the Shadows she had come across in the early years of her training. The trick became less impressive after she spent years watching Robin do the same thing from his own eyes via mind-link. She could usually track such movements now. But there were more important matters to attend to than her own musings.

 

“How is he?”

 

Silence Still. Oh, she was not playing this game. Not right now.

 

“Quit the Big Bad Batglare already. I don’t regret breaking cover and I’m not sorry I saved him.” She folded her arms and returned his glare.

 

He looked away, turning to stare at his own reflection in the one-way glass to the observation room. “You should have contacted me. We would have gotten him our without compromising your position.”

 

“They were torturing him!”

 

He turned back to her, sharply. “And if they had caught you?”

 

“There is _nothing,_ ” she said vehemently, “that they could do to me that would hurt as much as losing him again.”

 

“You allowed your emotions to cloud your judgment. He may look like your Wally-“

 

“He _is_ my Wally.”

 

If there was such a thing as stunned silence, this was it.

 

“Explain.” Batman recovered quickly, snapping out the order.

 

She closes her eyes as the hope, relief, and love of that moment comes crashing back to her.  It threatens to break the barriers that held her together through the last few hours of interrogation; through the last few years of this life…

 

“He recognized me, when I went to free him.” She opened her eyes to stare the Batman down. “He told… he told me to get ‘traught.”

 

She could swear he was raising an eyebrow behind that cowl.

 

“To us, it was the opposite of ‘distraught.’ I- there’s a story to it, okay?”

 

“You will give a full debrief later.” He says, but it seems that finally, finally, he’s satisfied enough to answer _her_ question. “He’s stable and healing. Given his metabolism, I estimate he will be awake in the next half hour.”

 

And this time, the walls around her heart do crumble. She sinks into the chair and puts her head in her hands, fighting the urge to just cry. He’s _here_ and he’s _safe_ and they’re both alive… Did the lights in the room just get brighter?  For the first time since she came to this place, she has more than just herself to depend on. Heck, she has more even than just hope. She has a tangible _chance_ at something she didn’t before: a happy life, where she can be herself, and not just the villain Tigress.

 

“Green Lantern will likely be heading down to the Med Bay to be there when Flash wakes up. He can escort you to see Wally.”

 

“Thank you. So much.” She murmurs. She’s willing to play nice now that he had made his own concessions. “The League confiscated my things, but there should still be a USB in my belt with copies of every Legion file I could get my hand on.”

 

“I’ll retrieve it now.” He unlocks the cell door and steps out. “Oh, and Tigress? Good job.” He disappears with a swish of black cape.

 

She grins.


	4. Corroboration

John’s annoyed when he gets Batman’s page to return to the detention level, and downright furious when the man tells him what he wants.

 

“I am _not_ going to escort a known villain to the med-bay just because she wants to see the man she helped torture!” Batman tries to pass him, but John punches the wall, cutting off his exit.

 

“She was not one of his tormentors. She was his rescuer.”

 

“What, she told you that and you just believed her? Since when does Batman trust anyone’s word, much less a villain’s?” Damn this man and his cryptic insecurities.

 

“Since he’s apparently been working with her even before this.” Clark came striding around the corner, his furious look matching his tone.

 

His eyes snapped back to the black cowl. “What?”

 

The Man of Steel joins him in leveling a glare at the Caped Crusader that would leave lesser men cowering in fear. “She’s been feeding him information on the Legion. He even told her his Secret ID!” That can’t be true. If there was one thing John knows about Batman, it’s that Batman doesn’t trust. Not anyone. Heck, if it weren’t for the Invasion, he doubts any of them would have ever learned the Bat’s true name.

 

“Technically, I didn’t tell her.”

 

“That’s not the point, Bruce! You’ve been keeping secrets. Big ones. Again.”

 

“Clark’s right. You can’t keep doing this! I will not compromise the safety of the Watchtower, of Wally, just because some woman who knows your name has been passing you info.”

 

“Do you even know what she’s been doing for the Legion? How many she’s hurt or killed to  ‘maintain cover’ for you?” _Like Wally_ , he thinks.  “God Bruce, I know you’re all about the mission, but I thought you were against killing; do you think it doesn’t count just because it’s your lackey instead of you pulling the trigger?”

 

“Do NOT imply that I killed – that I even allowed killings – again.” Batman nearly shook with rage as he stared down the most powerful beings on the planet. “Tigress designed her skill set to be as minimally damaging to us as possible while still gaining enough trust to get the information we needed. Don’t think I didn’t monitor her as closely as I monitor you all.”

 

“You monitor _us?”_

 

“Of course.”  Because Batman _would_ think monitoring his friends and allies, his fellow heroes, was an obvious course of action.

 

“If I may put in my own opinion on the matter?” In the heat of their argument, no one had noticed J’onn phase through the floor from the detention center. “I agree that Batman has crossed a line, and it needs to be discussed. Rationally. But we are three people too short to have this discussion.  We should convene a full meeting – after the Flash has healed – so that Batman and Tigress may explain how and why they planted a mole within the Legion of Doom. In the mean time…”

 

Here, he hesitates; something John had never seen the Martian do.

 

“I believe we should allow Tigress to see Flash. I had previously believed that the worry emanating from her was for her own situation. Given her relief upon learning of the Flash’s health and the emotions I felt from Wally when they appeared, I believe we should allow her to see him. Then Batman can explain some of the things that have transpired between them. He’s ‘her’ Wally?”

 

“That’s not my secret to share.”

 

“Because that’s stopped you before.” John mutters under his breath, but lets it drop. He’s still angry, furious, but he could see J’onn’s point.  And he does want to see Wally, so he’ll play along. “Fine, I’ll take her down to see him.”

 

“But we _will_ be discussing this later. At length.” Superman asserts.

 

“As you say.” The Dark Knight turns and strides away, somehow managing to make it feel as if _they_ were the ones retreating instead.

 

He runs his hand over his head, a habit he picked up before the Marines made him crop his hair. “I’ll go escort the prisoner – Tigress – to the Med Bay then.”

 

“I wish you well. I must return to the Monitor Station. I have been absent too long as it is.” With that, the Martian phases through the ceiling of the corridor.

 

Superman turns to him. “Take care of him, okay John? If Bruce says she’s trustworthy, she probably is, but…”

 

“I won’t let him hurt our favorite speedster. I don’t believe in Question’s doomsday theories, but even I know how many people would be… upset if something happened to him. I think these past few weeks have proved that.”

 

“True enough. I’ll see you for the meeting later, then. I need try to raise Diana again. Make sure she knows what’s going on, and everything.”

 

John leaves him at the first intersection, heading to the vil- Tigress’s cell. He pauses in the doorway to study his friend’s ‘ninja girlfriend.’ Her back is to him, and her head is bowed. She doesn’t react to him, just plays with her necklace, but he doesn’t doubt that she’s aware of his presence. Not with how easily she noticed Batman. Her sword, belt, and other equipment had been confiscated, but they had left her mask. She had removed it almost immediately and it still lay on the table. Her costume was covered in now-browning dried blood, contrasting with her suit, which was a bright orange that John might have called gaudy if he hadn’t spent so many years working with the Scarlet Speedster.  He clears his throat and she looks turns to look at him.

 

“I’m heading down to see Wally, if you want to come with me.”

 

She pushes her long, dark hair out of her face and nods. “Thank you.”

 

He’s not going to let her at his back, so he doesn’t let her follow him. Instead, they walk side by side. She picks up enough of his body language to look confident as they take each turn and intersection. Luckily, the few heroes they pass are dissuaded from questioning her freedom by his glowing green gaze and general ‘do not question me right now’ aura.

 

They’re almost to the last set of elevators when she stops suddenly.

 

“Problem?”

 

“This door, it leads to the cafeteria, right?”

 

“How did you…?” It makes him nervous that she might know the layout to the Watchtower.

 

“Wally will complain less about waking up in a sick bed if he has something to eat.”

 

That’s true enough, and he allows their path to detour through the mess hall. He watches her pile a tray with random, but seemingly carefully chosen, food items. He does note that by the time she seems ready to continue, she’s covered all of the major food groups on the tray. Even dessert. It’s this that allows him to think that maybe she really did know Wally before… something.

 

Wally’s awake when they make it to his room. He’s talking to an obviously relieved Shayera.

 

“So then I was like, no soap, Clock Radio! Get it? ‘Cause… Oh, hey GL! Come to visit me on my apparent death bed?”

 

“More like I’ve come to rescue poor Hawkgirl from your big mouth, Hot Shot.”

 

“Hey! Shayera likes my stories! Right Sis?”

 

“You just keep telling yourself that, _Little Brother._ ”

 

“Ouch Shay. I said I was sorry! It’s not like I _meant_ to get caught by the Legion of Doom.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you didn’t take unnecessary risks. Sometimes I think we oughta- what is _she_ doing here?” Hawkgirl had finally noticed his unwanted companion, who was hovering in the doorway uncertainly.

 

“Artemis!” Flash’s obvious joy at her presence just barely kept Shayera from making threats against the orange-clad woman, who gave the speedster an odd smile and hefted her tray.

 

“Hey Baywatch. I see you’ve been able to stay out of trouble without me around.”

 

“Hey, that’s not totally on me. How was I supposed to know the Legion had upgraded to unstoppable ninja babes? Last I knew they were still on the balding billionaire/grumpy gorilla models.”

 

John decides he should cut this conversation off. He feels like he’s missing things, and doesn’t like it. “That’s still not an excuse for what happened. You can’t keep rushing into these things.”

 

“Not you too!” Wally groans and falls back into his pillows. “Is everyone going to give me these lectures? You weren’t even there!”

 

John and Shayera share a glance. They both know that Flash has been a little… coddled since they almost lost him during the Cadmus incident. But now that everyone knew what he meant to the League, to the World, and had almost lost him… Question was most vocal about it, but consciously or not, no one in the League wanted that to happen again, and he was clearly getting fed up with it. But to get into that discussion while the younger hero was still lying in a hospital bed after being tortured for weeks? Not at the top of his to-do list. Luckily, Tigress had seemed to have it under control.

 

“Can you blame them for worrying about you? You have this uncanny ability to worm your way into everyone’s hearts.”

 

“Yeah, I know what that’s like.” The speedster replies, looking pointedly at Tigress. She fidgets with her necklace again under his stare. “GL, Shay? Can we have a little time alone?”

 

“No way!”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What? John, you can’t be serious!”

 

“I’ll explain outside, okay?”

 

Hawkgirl’s eyes narrow, but she stands to follow the Green Lantern out of the room. She pauses directly in front of the other woman on her way out, though, and stares straight into her eyes. “Do. Not. Hurt him.”

 

“I won’t.” And there’s enough passionate honesty there that she continues on out, leaving a villain with the hero that considers her his big sister. That she _might_ consider her little brother.

 

The door slides closed behind them, and finally they’re alone, if likely monitored. She’ll take it.

 

“I, uh, brought you your favorite.” She says, hefting the tray. Then, smirking, she adds,  “Everything.”

 

“Babe, you rock my world.”

 

“You remembered!”

 

“Hey, I remember things.”

 

“Just not Valentine’s Day?”

 

Their affected enthusiasm drops. He closes his eyes and covers his mouth with his hand. “It really is you. I wasn’t sure, once I started getting over the drugs and the blood loss, if I had just dreamed it…”

 

She nods, and takes his hand in her own. “No. It is me. And you.”

 

“Babe, please forgive me. I thought I was going to die, in the Arctic. Instead…I wound up here… I didn’t know how to get back. How to find you. I had to make a new life…”

 

“I don’t blame you. No one else will, either. We thought… there were no traces of zeta energy. You should be dead. We would have looked for you otherwise. We wouldn’t have ever stopped… You know Nightwing and I would never have given up. No one in the Team, the League, would have…” And she’s crying now, for the years and tears that were wasted. Because her stupid, self-sacrificing, _wonderful_ boyfriend had to save the world one more time.

 

“Babe. Arty. Look at me.” She turns back to him, but her eyes are down cast. Gently, he cups her face, and forces her eyes to meet his. “You didn’t know. _We_ didn’t know. So we had to move on with our lives, and that’s okay.”

 

“Right. Move on…” And there was a fear she hadn’t even considered. Wally was just so… Wally. He needed to be around people, and certainly the others could see how amazing he was. She knew the Flash was a flirt, but how much of that was persona, and how much was Wally? Had he taken any of them up if they asked him out? Would he still want to, now that she was here with him again? “I … Do you… still love me? Is there someone else? I… I’d understand. I’ll back off.”

 

“No! Beautiful, there’s no one else. I tried to get over it, there were a few flings, but it’s been hard. No one else ever come close to measuring up to you.”

 

“Yeah, I know what that’s like.”

 

“Hey, happy smiles only. I still love you, you still love me, it’s all good.”

 

“I don’t know can you say that. They hurt you, Wally. They hurt you so much…”

 

“Hey, it was worth it. I got to be rescued by my Angel. You know – they live on the moons of Lego? They’re said to be the most beautiful creature in the world…”

 

“Ugh! You promised you would never bring up the Star Wars prequels in front of me. Even to flirt.”

 

“Hey, all’s fair in love and fandom rivalries. Dialogue is one of the many reasons Star Trek will always be superior to Star Wars.”

 

“Please, the prequel trilogy barely counts – and I know you’re trying to distract me, Trekkie.”

 

“Trekker! I’m a Trekker.” She’s silent, but her stare says everything to him. “Really, Beautiful, I’m fine. You’re here to chase the bad thoughts away for me, aren’t you? In fact, I’d say I’m actually pretty lucky. I bet I’m the only one who can see what you really look like here. I get to keep your gorgeous face all to myself.”

 

“Are you saying Tigress is unattractive? Well, no snacks for you then.” She says playfully, pulling away the yet-untouched tray of food. God she had missed his smile, his ability to crack jokes in any situation. She knows she shouldn’t let him deflect, but joy is what they need right now, or they’re both going to spiral down into the darkness of ‘what ifs.’

 

“Ar-te-mis!” He whines. “You know I’m not good enough with words to dig myself out of that kind of hole. And I’m hungry!” She laughs at his antics and leans over to kiss his pout away. It’s so much like old times. Like good times.

 

“You’re right. I do know that. Just eat before I change my mind again.”

 

“As you command, My Lady.” He affects a fake bow and complies. They may joke about him eating and liking everything, but as he picked through the food, he noticed there was a definite trend towards foods he preferred, mixed in with high-nutrient foods that would best help his metabolism. Just what the speedster doctor ordered. When he picks up a bowl of mixed fruit, he can’t help but grin. He quickly pulls out every strawberry in the pile and puts them on a separate plate before offering it to Artemis. “Are these still your favorite?”

 

A grin splits her face and she takes them. He _really does_ remember. “They are. Thank you.”

 

“Just like old times.” He grabs her hand and twines their fingers together. They share a look, and though pain and sadness permeate both their gazes, there is more than a small spark of happiness.

 

“Yeah, just like old times.” Their hands twine, and they attempt to kiss the hurt away.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s right. I went there. Because Wally would know the ‘No soap, clock radio’ jokes. Who’s laughing with us?
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I mean no derision towards either Star Wars or Star Trek. In the comics, Wally has a model of the Enterprise in his room, so he must be a Trekker. It’s my head canon that Artemis (who we always forget is actually very smart – especially at science) is secretly a Star wars fans, and it’s one of the things the two snipe at each other for; the other’s ‘clearly inferior taste in sci-fi.’


	5. Ruminations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Ugh. I hate this chapter. I’m not good at brooding. That’s why I like writing Wally. Anytime something is starting to get serious – Boom! I can count on him to make a joke and derail the whole thing.
> 
> I just… never got happy with this. Please, please, please tell me what you think is wrong with this. In excruciating detail, if you must. Of course, if someone wanted to beta for me, I'd really appreciate it....

Ch 4: Ruminations

While outwardly as stoic as always, on the inside, J’onn’s emotions churned. Luckily, the Martian was more than capable of multitasking. It was not difficult to introspect while simultaneously making up for his absence form the bridge these past few hours. Not that there was much to do. Mr. Terrific seemed to have done an excellent job keeping things running while he took care of things with Flash and Tigress. Even so, it didn’t hurt to recheck everything. His family and his new home depended on him to keep things running smoothly for the league; he couldn’t slack off out of concern for just one person.

 

Though to be fair, that one person’s well-being certainly affected the well-being of many others.

 

He may still not understand humans particularly well, but he understood _relationships._ He knew that Wally had become something like a metaphorical sun that many leaguers revolved around. Their light when the darkness in their world began to grow too strong. On Mars, the happiness of a mind like Wally’s would be addicting – he would protected by all who came into contact with him. It didn’t surprise J’onn that the League felt the same about their speedster. Anyone who had felt such genuine joy and kindness would want to keep it close.

 

And in that respect… J’onn believed The Question’s doomsday predictions. Logic wouldn’t let him blow them off. Especially when he thought of the other five founding members. Of his family.

 

John’s feelings for Flash were obvious. The speedster was his best friend. He may complain about the ‘Hotshot’s’ impulsiveness, but J’onn knew better. Could _feel_ the truth whenever the two men interacted.  In the beginning, Wally was the only person in the League John felt he could relax with. They were the only humans on the team (because even J’onn knew that Batman didn’t count, not really). They could both appreciate sports, food, girls… Wally got John into video games and action movies; John tried to get some discipline into the speedster. Wally was always willing to listen to John talk about his travels in space, his work for both Corps, how he managed to screw up his relationships _this_ time. John might think he was too controlled to go after Wally’s killers, but J’onn knew there was a streak of hot-blooded soldier under the surface. He wouldn’t let his comrade’s –his friend’s – killer escape unscathed.

 

Shayera was like John in that respect. She wouldn’t _ever_ say it out loud – she could barely admit it to herself, though J’onn could feel it from her without even trying to examine her mind – but she loved it when Flash called her his big sister.  It felt… right. The young man certainly acted like the ‘annoying little brothers’ J’onn saw on TV sometimes. His inherent compassion also touched her soul-heart deeply. He was the first to accept her back after her people’s Invasion. No, J’onn mentally amended. He never turned against her in the first place. How could she not care for him when he had such a trust in her? The fact that he worked so hard to help her fit back in after she decided to come back didn’t hurt either. Admit it or not, Wally was her baby brother and she would not let _anyone_ hurt him without facing retribution. It was not in her people’s nature to let such slights pass. And honestly, Earth Justice wouldn’t be enough for her. He knew she would kill to avenge him. Shayera had once explained that ‘Flash’ was the Thanagarian word for kill.  Without Wally around to remind her of the good associated with the word, J’onn feared it  would be all too easyto slip back into the solider she had been. And if the Invasion had taught him anything, it’s that Thanagarians don’t show mercy in war.

 

Diana would actually admit that she was fond of Wally.  Diana was all about truth, honor and compassion, and Wally had those things in spades. Plus, while his flirtations often annoyed the Amazon, he never pushed her buttons many of the other heroes did. He actually did the opposite. While J’onn didn’t always understand the problem, he did know that more often than not, John or Clark or (usually) Bruce did something that left the Princess stomping around cursing ‘men and their stubborn pig-headedness.’ Then Wally will zip up to her with a corny joke, or a too-honest-to-be-flirting compliment or a question because he doesn’t understand something. Suddenly, Diana’s laughing, or preening, or helping Flash because his problems are so much _simpler_ than the emotional wrecks that are their fellow heroes. She once confided in him that these moments remind her that Man’s World isn’t _so_ bad… that it’s something worth defending. Wally’s reminds Diana of the reasons she still fights, and the proud Amazon wouldn’t let someone hurt that without retaliation. ~~~~

Superman might be the loveably naïve Boy Scout most of the time, but he has an angry self-righteous streak just below the surface. When he sees injustice, and knows it’s in his power to stop it, it’s hard to convince him not to, even if his methods would be… questionable. Yet Wally always knows how to diffuse him. It’s like he’s used to dealing with stubborn, quick-to anger Kryptonians. J’onn once spent Christmas with Clark and his parents. He understood how the Man of Steel could associate Wally’s Midwestern charm with all the good things that come with family. Superman would _probably_ not kill just to avenge the Flash… but he probably wouldn’t stop anyone else from doing the same. And it would only take one of the Kryptonian’s outbursts without Wally to anchor him for Clark to make a terrible mistake, for him to start down the path to becoming Lord Superman.

 

And Batman… well. Ostensibly, Batman’s only ‘friend’ was Superman, and even then, no one doubted the Dark Knight could and would drop the Man of Steel 8 different ways from Sunday should he decide the Kryptonian posed a threat. But the Flash was probably the only person the Batman actually _trusted._ Sure, he could go on about the tactical advantages of Wally’s powers, improvisation, and unpredictability.  What he really meant though, was, _Flash has my back._ Besides, he had noticed that Batman’s glares were never really as harsh as they could be whenever Wally cracks his corny jokes. Wally pushes all of the Dark Knight’s buttons in the best way, and the man will forever owe the speedster for bringing his little lightness into their darkest hero’s life. It’s no surprise that Lord Batman reacted the way he did. J’onn knew that their Batman would be the same, left unstable and vengeful for the loss of his light.

 

 

 

As for J’onn himself…

 

The Flash just _understood_ the Martian better than the rest of them. He was the one that introduce the extra-terrestrial to the joys of Oreos. He was the one who tried to learn about Martian culture, and helped J’onn recreate Martian dishes and holidays here on earth. Wally was the only person he knew of who wasn’t bothered by his telepathy. He had even suggested using it as a sort of mental comm link to improve secrecy and communications back when it was just the seven of them. The others had vehemently shot that idea down – they all had their own share of secrets to keep – but he was still touched by the suggestion.

 

 It was hard, painful, being stuck inside his own head after a lifetime of only mental communication. But whenever it got too bad, Flash always seemed to be there, offering to let a him bounce around in the back of the younger hero’s mind. The speedster had an unusually large mindscape for a human, and his thoughts were fast enough to feel like a network of minds rather than just the one. It was soothing and familiar, and gave him direct access to Wally’s earnest happiness. The high from those times could keep him going for weeks. Like the others, he had to admit that he cared deeply for Wally as a person, as _family._  Should someone hurt him… well. Minds are such _fragile_ things really. He would enjoy taking apart anyone who took apart the Flash, before stepping aside and letting the rest his family finish them off.

 

An incoming call interrupted his macabre thoughts. It was Diana.

 

“I just received your hails. Tell me it’s good news.”

 

“Flash has returned, and should recover fully.”

 

“Thank Hera! I was so worried…”

 

“ I know. He brought someone with him. A vilainess of the League of Shadows.”

 

“Was she the one that hurt him? Athena help her when I get up there…”

 

“No. We believe she was the one that rescued him. We’d like to confirm the veracity of that statement.”

 

“Let me finish some things here. I can be back by tomorrow. With my lasso.”

 

“Actually, we’re calling an emergency meeting for the Council. People have been keeping dangerous secrets.”

 

“What has Bruce done this time?”

 

“Apparently he sent this woman undercover as a villain and didn’t think to mention it to us.”

 

“Gods _damn_ him.”

 

“Although Wally has some explaining to do as well.” And wasn’t that a painful thought. How – why – would Wally of all people keep things from them?

 

Diana, too, looks surprised and hurt at that news. Finally, she sighs. “I’ll tie things up quickly here. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

 

“I will see you then.” She cuts the link and he holds in a sigh of his own. It had been too long since they had all been together. He wished it were under more pleasant circumstances.

 

Still, now that things were settled, he could afford to take a moment for himself. He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to fall into his familiar meditations. This focus allowed him to extend his empathic range. For a few minutes, he would allow himself to indulge his feelings and skim the edges of the love and happiness emanating from the Med Bay.

 

XxXxX

 

The room is dark, except for the glow of the computer screen, silent, except for the clicking of a keyboard, and calm, except for the man’s churning thoughts. But can there really be darkness if there is light? Sound of there is silence? How then, can the man claim to be calm in the face of this newest revelation?

 

He analyzes the stolen data almost automatically. Abilities, weaknesses, bases, plans… it’s all here. It is nothing to sort, to catalogue, to match up the teams that can most effectively eliminate their enemies, to predict which villains will run because of Tigress’s defection, and where they will run too. No, the Legion and its member will be easily taken down now. That is not the issue at hand here.

 

Because their Wally is also _their_ Wally.

 

This is not what he anticipated when the other-worlders approached him eight months ago. Batman hates the unanticipated.

 

_Let us protect Wally._

_Let us infiltrate your villains._

_Let us give you the tech you need._

 If the offer had come from anyone other than, well, himself, it would have been contemplated only long enough to find the motive and destroy whoever was behind such false promises. Instead, he decided to believe the other Bat and his colleagues. As it were, it took months of faithful reports (not to mention stringent trans-dimensional cross-referencing) for him to actually believe _in_ the interlopers.

 

And he did _not_ agree to this because of the young man who came with the other Batman, the one with the easy smile and the brilliant plan and the aura of _understanding_ his darkness and pain _._ The one that the other Batman _smiled_ at. (The one that could have been _his_ son _._ )

 

When Flash disappeared three weeks ago, the Dark Knight did not panic.  Artemis would be able to find out who had him. When Artemis went twelve days without reporting back, he was concerned. When the Tigress and Flash’s tracers both suddenly came online, even as the Watchtower locked down and began hailing him with emergency signals, he was simply annoyed. Flash’s vitals were stabilizing before his eyes, and no secondary alerts were triggered. He could turn his attention to other matters for a few hours before dealing with the League.

 

When he finally arrived at the Watchtower, he was unsurprised by Superman’s debrief of recent events, although the details were… interesting. He would be the one to later figure out that the Legion’s base acted as a giant Faraday’s Cage, interrupting and incoming or outgoing signals that weren’t manually rerouted. When Artemis blew a chunk out of the wall electromagnetic waves were able to penetrate the fortress, and Wally was able to use the comm in his cowl to call for help.

 

When he went into the interrogation cell, he was intending to berate the woman for throwing away their plans. He was instead caught off guard by Tigress’s revelation.

 

So now here he is, organizing an assault against many of their most prominent villains, and bracing for a _discussion_ with his colleagues. It would not be hard to stonewall them, as always. And he honestly doesn’t have all the answers, for once. Despite outward appearances, he _does_ understand people. This is something they need to hear from Wally.

 

They’ll be upset, because the Other Wally he’s been told about is nothing like their Wally, but he should be. Do they even know him at all? Personally, Bruce is glad that Wally never said anything. Because they would have felt obligated to help him find his way home, and eventually they would have succeeded. And then they might have lost him all the sooner.

 

Batman is under no illusions. Wally will not be staying in this dimension. Artemis has dealt a critical blow to the Legion – the League will likely have a surplus of ‘firepower’ once they’re taken care of, so Flash won’t be obligated to stick around. There will be nothing to tie the lovable speedster here, nothing strong enough to withstand the pull of _home_. Where Wally has people who actually know him. Where he has speedster mentors and mentees that _understand_ what life’s like at the speed of light. Where he has life-long friends and a Team that looks up to him. Where he has aunts and uncles, cousins and nieces care for him. Where he has a girlfriend who loves him. Where he has parents. Where he has a real family.

 

Batman closes out his plans of attack, and rechecks the encryption on this computer. He needs to plan for Wally’s departure. He’ll need to re-examine his contingency plans for the other Leaguers, analyze the best arguments to win them over if the league divides over this... He doesn’t think they’ll go Lord because of this. They’ll know that Wally is safe and happy; there won’t be anyone to take vengeance on. Even so…

 

They might try to stop Wally from leaving. He doesn’t _think_ they’re that selfish, but he’s not wasted the other League’s equipment. He’s been watching other universes, trying to distill what information he could that was applicable in this dimension. And he’s seen the things they _could_ be. And _possessive_ is one of those things.

 

But Wally deserved happiness. It wouldn’t be fair if Bruce kept him from his real family.

 

He pauses in in preparations.

 

He activates a special communicator in his belt, and sends a quick message to the other Batman, while he was feeling generous. Because Batman didn’t always do _fair._

He would need a contingency for himself.

 

 

XxXxX

 

She was ticked.

 

As if the past few weeks, the past few _hours_ hadn’t been bad enough, she now had to deal with the crap John just shared about Batman’s newest conspiracy. She was so tired of that word. After months of the conspiracy with Cadmus, weeks of Question harping that the Flash’s disappearance was part of ‘The Grand Conspiracy’… she could have gone her whole life without dealing with another one. Damn it.Batman better have a _very_ good reason to keep a conspiracy of his own from them.

 

Her anger had kept her away from medical for a couple of hours. She knew Wally would cheer her up, and right now, she just wanted to be angry. Diana was back though, and they were trying to get everything together to discuss their latest round of secrets and lies. A part of her felt guilty. Really, who was she to judge someone for betraying the trust of their loved ones? Then she remembered what Batman’s secrets had done to her baby brother, and she became angry all over again.

 

In any case, she had to face him now. The medics needed to clear him to attend the meeting, and she had volunteered to babysit his _ninja girlfriend._

 

She was surprised to see a crowd of people loitering outside Wally’s hospital room. No, not just loitering. They were definitely staring through the observation windows, peeping on the room’s occupants. Annoyed by the crowd’s intrusive fascination, she elbowed her way to the window. “What is going on- oh.”

 

And she really couldn’t blame them for staring. This was too cute.  The woman had, at some point, crawled up on his bed and buried her face into his chest.  Her arms were wrapped around his neck; his around her waist, twining in her hair. She was on his uninjured side, somewhat facing the door, so it was clear that they were asleep. She had thought she knew what happiness looked like on the Flash. He _was_ always happy. But his smiles had never looked like _this_.

 

She hated to interrupt them, but there were things to be done. She slips inside the room. The reaction is instantaneous.

 

Whether the woman hadn’t actually been asleep, or if she just has strong reactive instincts, Shayera doesn’t know, but the moment the door slides open, the woman half-rolls, half-vaults over Wally and the bed, landing in a defensive crouch between the speedster and the door. At some point she had acquired a scalpel, (and Hawkgirl would have to talk to the medical staff about leaving such dangerous things around where anyone could take them) which she now brandished at the room’s intruder.

 

“Relax. Don’t do something you’re going to regret.” Shayera runs a finger down her mace, but doesn’t make any further moves towards Tigress.

 

To the woman’s credit, she seems to realize what she’s doing, eyes widening a fraction before relaxing her position. She carefully sets the scalpel down on the table and takes a step back from it. “I- sorry. Habit.”

 

“We’re gonna have to work on that particular habit, Beautiful. Not a fun way to wake up.” Wally groans from the bed.

 

“I’m sorry.” She rubs his good arm in apology. “Instincts like that are what keep you alive when you’re neck-deep in an organization of villains.”

 

“Right. I’m sorry.” He looks dolefully into her eyes, and takes her hand in his.

 

“Not your fault.” She whispers back. They hold each other’s gazes for a moment, before turning back to Hawkgirl. Their fingers are still twined together.

 

“I’m sorry to… wake you. The doctors need everyone out so they can determine if you’re free to go.“ Wally pumps his fist and cheers. She turns her attention to Tigress. “I thought you might want to shower and change. You’ll both be debriefing after Wally gets cleared. It’s probably not a good idea to go to the council, you know...” Wearing a villain’s suit and covered in Wally’s blood.

 

“I…” She hesitates, but Wally recovers for her.

 

“Babe, it’s okay. I’ll still be here when you get back. And if they’re going to make you leave me anyways, I want you to at least make yourself more comfortable.” She squeezes his hand and nods.

 

“I’ll be quick. Don’t leave again.” _Don’t leave me again._

 

“Never.” With quick kiss, she follows Hawkgirl out of the room. Shayera pretends she doesn’t see her glance wistfully back into the room as she steps over the threshold.

 

They make the trip to the nearest locker room in silence. Shayera shows her where the soap and towels are, and offers her a change of clothes. “I only have some of my spare civvies to offer you, but if that makes you feel uncomfortable, I can probably get your suit cleaned up pretty fast.”

 

“No. Thank you. A pair of jeans and a shirt sounds perfect right now. In fact… you can probably throw that costume away.”

 

“Distancing yourself from the villain?” Shayera could understand that. Her stay at Fate’s tower and the introspection she did there helped her mentally sort out her loyalties, but she still couldn’t bear to wear her Thanagarian helmet again. Costumes can hold too many regrets.

 

“Well, no. Tigress did hero work too. It’s just… Tigress isn’t needed anymore. She’s just a placeholder. A cover. Artemis is Wally’s partner.”

 

“I see.” She didn’t. But she didn’t know what else to say. Tigress – Artemis – seems to take that as a good moment to duck out of the conversation and into one of the shower stalls. Shayera waits on one of the benches, and tries not to let her mind wander to those darks days during and after the Invasion. Instead, she questions the other (heroine?) woman. “You two obviously go way back. How long have you known Wally then?”

 

“Oh, since we were fifteen.” Her voice sounds different, but that might be the echoes of the shower. “You think he’s a goofball now? You should have seen him back then. First time I see him? I’m just getting introduced to the team, and he comes running in decked out in swim trunks and carrying an armful of party gear.”

 

“He tripped didn’t he?”

 

“Bingo. He and the beach ball go flying. Comedic gold. Of course, he didn’t really appreciate me laughing at him before I even knew him…We _hated_ each other back then.”

 

That was surprising. “I didn’t know it was possible for anyone to hate Wally. Or vice versa.”

 

“Trust me, I feel the same way now. He’s too sweet for that, right?”

 

“What changed?”

 

“We grew up and got over it. I… my family were all villains. No one should have trusted me. But Wally – in the awkwardest, most adorable way possible, mind you – walks up to me one day and declares that I’m ‘a real part of the team and that he trusts me completely.’”

 

_She’s leaving the league, but he stops her with a hug and a whisper. ‘I’ll miss you, Sis.’_

“Yeah. He’s still doing that.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“You know about the Invasion?”

 

“Which- oh. By Thanagar?”

 

“Yeah. Even after… everything. After I betrayed everyone and quit the League, he still called me family.”

 

“He’s good about that.”

The water shuts off as she contemplates this woman who was similarly touched by the Scarlet Speedster. She wonders why they _needed_ to be similarly consoled. She’s just working up the courage to pry when Artemis finally steps out.

 

“What the Hell!” She finds herself brandishing her mace for the third time in as many hours.

 

The woman who just stepped out in her clothes is not the vill- heroine she had known these past few hours. Blonde tresses frame a soft face. Open, gray eyes convey a deeper surprise than sharp black ones ever could. Gentler curves have replaced the harsh lines of a warrior, although stance and muscle definition betray the fighter that’s still there.

 

“Shayera! It’s me. Here-” Shayera tenses, but she just pulls out her amber necklace and clasps it around her neck. Instantly, Tigress is back.

 

“Neat trick.”

 

“Convenient for protecting your ID from the villains you’re snitching on, at least.” She removes the necklace and becomes Artemis again. “Er, is the meeting soon, or…?”

 

“Right. Follow me then, Blondie.”

 

“I knew I should kept the necklace on! I’m never going to live my hair color down, am I?”

 

“Not a chance, Girlie.”

 

They leave the locker room laughing.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightwing once admitted that he wouldn’t trade his life to get his parents back whereas Bruce… Bruce would. And to me, that’s a very defining character trait. Batman never got over his parent’s deaths, and his terrified of his loved ones leaving him. He also doesn’t seem to get ‘surrogate families’ very easily – it was very clear in the JL universe that he wasn’t emotionally invested in the League, and didn’t understand the other’s favorable emotions towards him. So don’t take Batman’s thoughts that seriously. I promise things end happy for everyone we care about.


	6. Narration

Ch 5 Narration

 

I hope you guys like this, as always and thanks for the great responses. It really makes my day when I see people enjoying this.

 

XxXxX

Wally was thrilled when the doctors cleared him to leave medical, though this was tempered somewhat when they explained he wasn’t yet ready to return to active duty. On top of that, Superman was waiting for him as he stepped out of the Med Bay, meaning he couldn’t zip off to find Artemis again.

 

“Don’t look so put out. You’re still recovering; it won’t kill you to slow down and walk with me to the meeting.” Clark rolls his eyes when Wally sticks his tongue out at the man. “C’mon. The more you stall to make faces the longer it’ll be before we can meet up with your girl again.”

 

“Right! What are we waiting for? I know you can move faster than that, Superman! Keep up with the fastest man alive.” Clark’s never seen the younger man this keyed up. Well, at least not in this way.

 

“You really love her, don’t you?”

 

Wally stops vibrating and turns to the Kryptonian. “Don’t you love Lois?”  And Clark knows the answer. _More than anything._

 

Wally changes the subject, and chatters on like usual as they approach the boardroom. Clark smiles and lets him. It gives him a chance to really look at his friend. To remind himself that he’s back, and he’s safe, and he doesn’t need to hunt someone – Luthor – down. He had thought the man would be down and out for longer after their confrontations with him and Brainiac. Yet here he was, amassing power and threatening the people the Man of Steel cared about. Again.

 

He didn’t approve of killing. He _didn’t._ But so many villains just won’t _stay_ down. Bruce knew he was tempted, sometimes, but he doubted anyone knew just _how_ tempting a permanent solution was to him. Ma and Pa wouldn’t approve, but they were his parents, and he knew they would forgive him. They weren’t enough of an incentive to stay his hand. The League would disapprove at first, but if the Lords proved anything to him, it’s that they would succumb to their doubts and fall in line easily enough. Lois would be shocked, but they didn’t have to be like the Lords. If they stayed out of the governments, only went that far with the worst of their foes… she might come around.

 

It was usually around this point in his musings that he ran into the real reason for his hesitation. Wally would be disappointed in him. Like Clark’s parents, the speedster wouldn’t stay mad at him, but he wouldn’t follow him, or even stay out of the way. And he could just picture Wally speeding in to rescue some villain and falling… whether to betrayal by Superman’s victim or to one of Clark’s own unstoppable attacks, it wouldn’t matter. So he would cut off that line of thought, and consider instead how to protect the world, protect his family, without compromising the morals his parents engrained him. The same morals Flash lived and defended with every step he took.

 

Laughter echoed down the corridor, cutting off Flash’s explanation of how to make the perfect double-BLT.

 

“Artemis!” And suddenly his companion is gone from his side. Clark turns the corner to find him embracing a blonde woman in civilian clothing.

 

“Mm. Missed you too, Wallman.” The woman finally responds when the two break apart.

 

Feathers brush against him, and Clark realizes Shayera had come to stand next to him while he stared. “I know. They’re cute, right?”

 

“Yeah. That is Tigress, right?”

 

“Artemis. She prefers Artemis.” She clarifies at his look.

 

“Oy, Supes!” He turns back to the couple. Their arms are loped around each other’s waists, but they’re focusing on him and Shayera now. “I want to introduce you to Artemis. Artemis, this is Superman. Try not to break him.”

 

“No promises. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of this spaz for me.”

 

And no matter the strange circumstances, his Ma raised him better than to be rude, especially to friends of friends.  He takes her hand and shakes it, gently. “It was no problem. It’s a pleasure to meet old friends of Wally’s.”

 

Suddenly, Batman round the corner and stalks past them, Green Lantern stomping angrily behind him.  Shayera mutters to him, “Oof. Someone’s still ticked.”

 

“Can we get started already?” John grinds out, and they comply, following him into the room to see the other two founders already there.

 

“Wally! I’m so glad to see you safe!” Diana rises from her seat to offer the man a hug.

 

“’Course I am, Princess! Have more faith in the Fastest Man Alive!” He spins her around before speeding back to his seat by John, pulling Artemis into his lap. “So, what’s up?” The mood sobers immediately.

 

“Why don’t you tell us? Or better yet, Bruce can.” John glares pointedly at Batman.

 

Artemis speaks instead. “It’s not... don’t blame Batman. I was the one who went to him, and who asked him to keep it secret.” She shifts nervously under the gazes of the other six heroes, and Wally decides to stop her.

 

“Babe. I need to be the one that tells them. Where we’re from. They– they deserve to hear it from me.”

 

Artemis shifts to look him in the eye. “Of course. You’re right.”

 

“Er. I don’t really know where to start.” He looks at the assembled heroes – at his family – and tries to think of how to tell them that they don’t know him. Not really.

 

Artemis understands his hesitation. “Start at the beginning. The Flash, of course.” Of course. He takes a breath, and starts.

 

“When I was a kid, I knew that the Flash was the greatest hero there was.” Eyebrows raise, because his family in this universe know him as the first and only Flash. “When I was ten, my aunt married the man that I quickly realized was the Flash. When I was thirteen, I reverse-engineered his super-speed experiment based on the product logs at his lab. I became Kid Flash, the third junior partner to a member of the Justice League.”

 

“You’re… from an alternate universe.” John sounds as disbelieving as the rest of the League. They’ve dealt with alternate universes before. It shouldn’t be unbelievable. But he supposes it’s different to think about people you care about that way. That it’s surprising to hear that your friend isn’t who you think he is. Well, unless you’re Batman, who appears as unflappable as always.  But he needs to make them understand. They need to know everything. So before they can interject more, Wally holds up his hands. “I am. But please, let me finish.”

 

So he does we he’s always done best. He talks. He talks about befriending Aqualad, Speedy and Robin. He talks about _The Day_ and Cadmus and strong-arming the League to get their own team. He talks about the team, and the Light and the ‘Missing 16 hours.’ About the invasion and Nightwing’s plan.  He talks about Artemis’s ‘death.’ He talks about the North Pole.

 

“I never expected… when I stepped into that zeta tube to leave the watchtower, I thought it would be for the last time. I knew the math, the physics behind it. I knew, even at their incredible speeds, that Bart and Uncle Barry didn’t have the kinetic energy to contain it, not without sacrificing themselves to an implosion of power. They needed another speedster. I had messed up the experiment when I gained my speed – I was never as fast as them, never fast enough to push the vortex over the edge and contain it… but I could be the one who fell in the gap between too slow and fast enough. One whose lagging speed would siphon off the excess energy… by letting the energy rip him apart.”

 

“Oh, Wally.” It’s Diana who speaks, though all of their eyes are sorrowful. He doesn’t want their sympathy. He doesn’t regret saving his world, his first family.

 

Artemis is holding him, her face buried in his chest. He thinks she’s crying. He does regret that.

 

“Forgive me, Beautiful.” He strokes her hair. “I knew if I stopped to say goodbye to you, that I wouldn’t be able to do it. And I couldn’t let them die. Bart’s just a kid. He’s my baby cousin. And Uncle Barry… he’s my hero. He was about to have babies with the second most wonderful woman in the world. He and Aunt Iris deserved it. The world needs the Flash. More than they needed some second-string speedster-wannabe.”

 

“Hot Shot, you don’t…”

 

“No, GL. It’s the truth.” Firm hands grasp his face; force him to stare into steely gray eyes.

 

“Don’t ever say that again.”

 

“But I-“

 

“No. I’ve forgiven you for that stunt. I understand why you had to do it, and that you would do it again if you have to. You wouldn’t be the stupid boy who could trust – who could love – a villain’s daughter if you didn’t. But you need to know how much you’re worth. Not just to me.  Be chalant about your life – you can’t just sacrifice yourself needlessly. You’ve seen the Lords.”

 

He searches her eyes, but there is no yield to them. “Yeah.”

 

“Then you don’t do it again. Not without a better reason than ‘I’m not important.’”

 

“Listen to her, Wally.” And Shayera’s using her big sister voice. No fair. They know he can’t say no to either of them, much less both.

 

“But, I mean. I know you’d miss me; I love you guys too! But you wouldn’t… do that. We’ve seen how that turns out…” They’re carefully avoiding eye contact with him now. “You guys can’t!”

 

“But we _would_ ,” Superman whispers, face falling into his hands.

 

Wally doesn’t know what to say to that. Luckily, he’s always been good with deflection. “Does anyone care how I popped up here instead of… disintegrating? Because I know Bats is probably dying to compare my story to the energy readings logged on the Bat computer…” And that glare tells him that this might not have been the safest change of conversation.  Effective though.

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“Er, when I first showed up here, I was looking for data on heroes, the League, trans-dimensional travel and the like. I figured Batman’s systems would be most likely to have the information I needed.”

 

“You… hacked Batman’s computer.” And even the J’onn’s solemn face is twitching in either amusement or disbelief.

 

“Is it considered hacking if you have all the passcodes? I think it would actually be considered, like, remote access because technically-“

 

“Flash. How. Did you get. The codes?” Bats grinds out, obviously still ticked about his unauthorized access.

 

“Er, I told you I was best friends with Rob, for like, ever. He shared most of B’s passcodes with me. I never woke up to a batarang at my throat, so I assume that was cool with him.” Because there was no way the Dark Knight _didn’t_ know that someone outside the Bat Clan could see those files. “Bats’ used the same codes here. Y’know, for such a clever guy, you’re really predictable. You, B, and Lord Batman all used the same passwords… and shutting up now.”

 

“Dare to dream.” John mumbles.

 

Batman continues to glare at him, although the others mostly seem lost in thought. Finally, Diana asks a question he’s been waiting for, although it still hurts. “How long have you been here? Did you… did you replace our Wally?”

 

“I’ve been here since about six months before the Invasion that brought us together. And as far as I can tell, there _was_ no Wally West here before me. I am _your_ Wally. But I’m also _their_ Wally. I’m … me.” He finishes lamely. Artemis is holding his hand in hers again. John puts a hand on his shoulder.

 

“And we’re glad you’re you, Hotshot.”

 

“Thanks.” He’s quiet for a moment, before realizing he should continue. “Anyways, once I realized, one, there’s no League to go to and two, I didn’t exist here, I realized that I didn’t really have any one else to go to. I decided to make a life for myself, and hope a League would form and share tech soon.”

 

“Your records are impeccable for someone who didn’t exist before a few years ago.”

 

“You know you’re allowed to actually _ask_ questions, Bruce,” he grumbles. Silence is his only reply.

 

He sighs. “I knew if I got into the hero biz, my records would have to be perfect. I knew Bats would eventually look into me, and I didn’t need him to be any less trusting than he already is. B made sure we could create fake identities for undercover work, and a simple paper trail wasn’t hard to fake after years of having to do it on the fly for missions.”

 

“Yet you chose not to give yourself your own credentials.”

 

“Hey, you of all people should know that things get exponentially harder to fake if you want to look like anything special. There have to be _records_. Newspaper articles, school citations, blog postings… I’m not good enough to do all of that. Not to your level of scrutiny. So instead, Wally West became… average.” And after a lifetime of striving to be special, to make people notice him, to make people proud… that was hard.

 

“For all intents and purposes, I got grades that were just good enough to get me through community college. My relatives left me just enough money to get an average apartment, but are dead now and can’t be cross-referenced. My ‘former employers’ wrote letters of recommendation just good enough to scrape me a job as a Technician’s assistant at Central’s crime lab. And so on.

 

“Of course, after that, I couldn’t just show up with the knowledge of, say, an expert biochemist. It would be too suspicious. So I became what the papers said Wally West was. When I was finally able to debut the Flash, I couldn’t bear to be Kid Flash, or even the Flash the way my Uncle was. Luckily, Central loves their kind-hearted, goofball version of the Flash.”

 

“Why keep this from us at all?” The disappointment and hurt in Diana’s voice makes his toes curl. He hates that he lied to her. “You could have told us, we would have understood. I thought we were getting over keeping secrets like this.”

 

“Because I’m _good_ at focusing on the present. Because bringing it up would have hurt too much. For all of us.” He whispers the last part. How could he tell J’onn that he knew the Mars he wistfully remembers because it was never destroyed in his universe? How could he tell Shayera that the earth he grew up on is at peace with Thanagar; that she’s happily married and respected by her people? How could he tell Bruce that he could have had a family, that the Batman he knew as kid was _happy_?”

 

Because he tried. He tried _so hard._ But he wasn’t Dick, or M’gann, or Katar. He couldn’t replace the family they never had here, even when they became _his_ family.

 

“So why bring it up? I thought there was no chance of ever getting back.” He’s not bitter, though in his frustration he probably sound that way. “We didn’t have the tech to travel dimensions. Even Lord Batman’s portals only accessed similar dimensions- oh, right, you guys probably didn’t notice me checking his stuff out while you were finishing up with your counterparts. Whoops.” He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. Chagrin is better than guilt or sorrow. His attempt to divert the mood isn’t working as well as it usually does, though. The others are still troubled. “So, er. Now you know.” He finishes weakly. He doesn’t have anything else to say, and they’re not asking. Not yet.

 

Luckily, Artemis is there to take the pressure off of him. “That’s where I come in, I guess.” She stands to address the table, but hesitates.

 

“It’s not an accident that I’m here.” She finally starts. “I mean, I didn’t know Wally – my Wally – was here, but I didn’t jump here accidentally like he did. I came he specifically to protect the Flash – Wally West.”

 

“Er, Babe, I’m touched that you would care that much about me – even an alternate version of me – but I _can_ take care of myself.” It hurt, a little, that she didn’t seem to have faith in him, despite all they had been through together. It rubbed a little too close to _too young, too loud, too slow._

 

“I know, love. We all know you can.” And he didn’t realize how much he needed to hear that until she said it. “But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill villain we’re talking bout. This is bigger than that. Something’s out there targeting _you_ specifically. Something’s trying to eliminate Wally West from the Multiverse.”


	7. Explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y’all like this. I thought you deserved more than just exposition, but the trade off for that was fewer reactions and emotions. They’ll come eventually, though. I promise.

“We first noticed it about 8 months after you… were gone.” They had rehearsed how to explain the threat, but they had never counted on their Wally being out there somewhere. It added another dimension to this drama. She needed to stay detached. Objective.

 

_Stick to the facts, Crock._

 

“After the North Pole, Luthor claimed responsibility for stopping the meltdown.” A screech echoes across the room, and everyone turns to see the table in front of Superman buckling beneath his clenched fists.

 

“Sorry.” He says, and folds his hands into his lap instead.

 

“Trust me. We all felt the same way.

 

_“Arsenal! Stand. Down.” Nightwing tries to placate the archer._

_“No! How can you say that? After all he’s done? Using_ your best friend,” _he turns to her, “_ your lover, _this way? Don’t you hate him?”_

_They share a glance. “We do.”_

 

“He’s a slimy bastard in pretty much every universe, isn’t he? Although he’s a bit of an under-achiever here. I mean, President? Our Luthor used the publicity to become Secretary of the United Nations. You can imagine how well that went over.”

 

_“Secretary of the UN Lex Luthor today announced an inquiry into the Justice League’s operations. Should the League be found to be involved in any illicit activities – a likely scenario in the humble opinion of good ol’ G. Gordon Godfrey– and the UN will take action against the so-called heroes. I, can only say, Bravo Secretary Luthor. It’s past time someone initiated a thorough investigation of the Just-Us League.”_

_“Amid allegations of kidnapping, unlawful martial action and the deployment of child soldiers, UN Secretary Luthor is encouraging members states of the United Nations to withhold jurisdiction from the Justice League. Some brave nations, like Biyalia, are taking this advice to heart and have declared that any intervention by a Justice League member within their borders will be seen as an act of aggression against their country. Other nations are stubbornly refusing to see the light. Vlatava’s Queen Perdita even has the gall to_ defend _the League!”_

_“Secretary Luthor continues his valiant crusade against the League. New evidence suggests that at least one minor – a child! – has died ‘in the line of duty’ for the Justice League. Old Godfrey’s been saying it for months, folks. This is a man worth supporting! We need to be grateful that Secretary Luthor has the willpower to stand against the corruption in our ‘heroes’ ranks. While the League futilely tries to counter a slew of allegations, Secretary Luthor has sought goodness, Literally. Recent talk of an intergalactic alliance to avoid another ‘Reach’ situation is reinforced as today Secretary Luthor will meet with one ‘Granny Goodness’ to discuss terms…”_

“Things just kept going from bad to worse. Heck, we were lucky when Luthor – when the Light – finally brought Apokolips in. We’re so much better at smashing than negotiating.”

_It could have been so much worse._

_Superboy had been tracking Intergang and its Apokoliptian tech for years. He was the one who realized that they were preparing for something. He led an envoy to New Genesis and secured a motherbox and the promise of aid should Apokolips move against earth._

_At the same time, M’gann and B’arrs’ negotiations with Mars were shockingly successful. Their sister planet was grateful for the League’s part in stopping the Reach’s inevitable conquest of their planet. They too, offered aid in the event of another terrestrial invasion._

_Cassie’s success in ‘Man’s World’ and L’gann and Kaldur’s long list of heroics had softened the opinions of their own people, as well as the population at large. Themyscira and Atlantis were on the friendliest terms with the world at large as they had ever been, and were prepared to defend their planet, not just their homes._

_They had warning. They had allies. They had done this before. Their biggest boon, however, was in the nature of chaos._

_The information Cheshire passed to Roy indicates that, for some unknown reason, Klarion had separated from the Light between the Reach’s endgame and Darkseid’s invasion. His role had been to stop New Genesis boom tubes and to conceal his own allies from the League’s detection technologies. With his desertion, there was nothing to stop the League and their allies from taking the battle to them. For this Invasion they were not alone; they had the manpower to keep the Apokoliptians contained near the tube sites._

_For a time._

_The armies kept coming, and they kept fighting, and Artemis watched her family grow weary. The Light aggravated what they could. Belle Reve and Arkham were broken open. UN armies attempted to interfere with League battle sites. Biyalia and Rhelasia had sudden nuclear crises. Earth’s defenders couldn’t keep it  up, but they_ could not lose _._

_If this was going to end, they were going to have to strike back._

“The League made a final push back at the invaders, and a small group of us used that battle as a diversion to infiltrate Darkseid’s fortress.”

 

_Artemis takes point. She’s their ranged fighter. She uses her arrows to blow obstacles before the team reaches them, to keep any enemies at a distance. They have to keep moving; she can’t let them slow down and engage._

_Conner and Kaldur protect their flanks. They can take the hits their teammates can’t. It’s an implicit agreement between the two; they will protect their team at all costs._

_M’gann flies above, camouflaged. She is their eyes, their early warning system. Like Artemis, she does what she can to keep the soldiers and missiles that seek their end at bay._

_Nightwing’s in the center, the most protected position. He’s guiding them with an upgraded version of his old wrist computer. He is the one that can take down the central control system, the one that can stop the tide of Apokoliptian soldiers upon their home._

_They move fluidly; they’ve been doing this for years._

_(A trained eye, however would note a slight stiltedness to their interactions, how they brace, as if for the actions of a sixth person…)_

_It takes all of their skill, their teamwork, but their luck holds. They make it to Darkseid’s throne room; his control station._

_Darkseid himself had gone to battle – Superman and Captain Marvel should be able to keep him busy – but several of his Furies remained to coordinate their armies’ attacks._

_Superboy and Kaldur launch themselves at the fearsome women. M’gann stays camouflaged and out of the way. She uses her telekinesis to stop deadly projectiles sent at her teammates, and sends out what psychic signals she dares to trip up Darkseid’s gladiators._

_Nightwing makes it to the control station, barely, and Artemis covers him. His hands are full, his attention occupied; his life is completely in her hands now._

_She shoots down the guards that come for them, pushing her flexibility to its limits as she ducks and twirls, making herself the target and not Dick. All the while, she does what she can to help her teammates by firing smoke bombs and flash bangs into their fray. Eventually, she runs out of arrows, and drops her bow to pull out her sword. She throws herself into a fight with anyone that comes near her._

_Nightwing’s close. She can make it. They can do this._

_Then the Apokoliptians release their cyber-hounds, and the battle turns against them. The other three are forced to retreat to her position, and they do their best to form a defensive perimeter as Dick works._

_It’s painful, and bloody, but he needs time, they can’t fail…._

_Suddenly, triumph flickers across the mind link. He’s done it. He can blow the boom tube control system. Most of the Apokoliptian army will be trapped in the pocket dimensions between the ends of the boom tubes, and the League will be able to overwhelm Darkseid’s remaining forces. They can save the world; Nightwing just has to trigger it._

_They’re simultaneous emotions, the joy and the sorrow. Because there is no chance for them. They will not be able to retreat from this position; they will not be able to leave the blast range._

_There is no hesitation in their minds. In this decision, they are one._

_Nightwing presses the button._

“We took out his control center, crippling the Apokoliptian army, but got caught in the backlash. Instead of killing us, the explosion seems to have amplified the collapsing boom tubes. We were all thrown into different dimensions.”

_The first thing she feels when she returns to consciousness is surprise. She shouldn’t be alive._

_After she gets over that shock, she’s just annoyed._

_Wherever she is, it’s closer to League décor than Apokoliptian, so why the hell is she chained up? She’s not sure if she has more questions or less when Superman and Batman come in to interrogate her._

_They’re furious, and want to know how the villain Tigress made it into the Watchtower, when by all accounts she’s still in Blackgate Penitentiary._

_Eventually (read: after several hours with J’onn and with Diana’s lasso) they straighten things out. She is allowed to roam the public areas of the watchtower freely, as long as she stays out of trouble. She does not take advantage of this._

_She spends the two weeks it takes to get her home watching the newsreels of this Wally’s recent assassination and crying by his memorial._

_Wally was shaking Superman’s hand, being welcomed as the newest member of the League, when he was shot, just once, in the heart._

_Tigress had pulled the trigger._

“Dr. Fate realized what had happened, and he, Zatanna, Dr. Palmer and Bart were able to reverse-engineer some new trans-dimensional portals with some New Genesis tech. By the time they had finally tracked us all down and brought us all back, though, a pattern was emerging.”

 

_“Wally had just died in the dimension you were in too?”_

_“No one talked about him in mine, but he was definitely killed recently.”_

_“He hadn’t even become Kid Flash yet! He was just visiting his Aunt Iris and someone blew up the news studio!”_

_“He had a family, and kids. His little twins were devastated…”_

“We ended up exploring dozens of universes, trying to figure out what was happening. There was no order to it. It didn’t matter if he had powers, what he did with them, or how old he was. Things just started happening. Someone would go crazy and kill you. An old, forgotten evil would suddenly re-appear. Villains’ plans suddenly revolved around taking you out first – even those with other vendettas like Luthor and Bane. So many had lost their Wally West… it couldn’t be a coincidence, despite the differences. We devised a plan.”

 

_“This can not be allowed to continue.”_

_“Kaldur, none of us want more Wally’s to die, but is it really our responsibility? With everything that has to be rebuilt? What are you even suggesting? That we should just throw each member of the Team into a different universe and hope for the best?”_

_“It is our responsibility, Conner! Look at these patterns. Whatever it was clearly originated in our universe! Whether it caused or was caused by his death, we owe it to him – to them – to stop it.”_

_“Nightwing. Calm yourself. Although he is correct. This… anomaly needs to be stopped. Also… this is not a Team mission. Red Robin has proven he is ready to lead. The Team does not need us any longer. If you are willing, we will take this mission ourselves. Artemis?”_

_“The five of us will split up. We’ve been tracking the anomaly, and it seems like it can only jump into ‘similar’ universes. We’ve pinpointed the five most likely dimensions for it to have gone to. We each infiltrate one. We protect that world’s Wally West. If the Anomaly shows up, we call each other to that universe, and take it down.”_

_“And if we’re wrong, if we miss it?”_

_“We shouldn’t be, M’gann.”_

_“But if we are?”_

_“Then we deal with our failure, and we follow it.”_

“The Anomaly is very good at attacking you indirectly – we still have know idea who or what it is – but it does leave traces. Moreover, it has to move relatively slowly, and in stages of similar dimensions. That’s probably why it took so long to get here. Whatever divergence separated our universe from yours must have happened long ago for things to be so different here than they are back home.”

She has to stop there for a moment. The next part is… complicated.

 

“We’ve done this a lot. We’ve developed a system. That’s why I went to Batman. It’s easier for me that way, to stay away from the League. Not having to interact with another Wally is just a bonus.”

 

“Ouch Babe. I’m hurt.”

 

She snaps at him, _“_ You of all people know how hard it is to watch your loved one die, again and again.”

 

“I’m sorry.” His eyes soften, despite her tone, but he can’t hold in his curiosity. He whispers, “How many?”

 

She doesn’t want to talk about this. She was doing so well with sticking to the script. Her vision is blurring – is she crying? – and she can feel herself shaking.  She can picture every one of her failures clearly in her mind.

 

_Bright green eyes, dulling._

_Hair that shouldn’t be_ blood _red._

_Legs that should be able to run away._

_He’s been beatenshotbeheadedstabbedblownupstrangledstarveddrownedcrushed_ killed.

 

_He’s dead. Again._

_Because she failed. Again._

_(Because she will never be able to save him)._

 

“Sixteen.”

 

Suddenly he’s there and she can feel his embrace – he’s alive, he’s _here_ – and everything’s going to be okay again, eventually.

 

_She won’t fail this time._

 

She doesn’t want to continue. She just wants to go home and hold Wally and never leave his sight again. But they need to know what she’s done here. She needs to push through this and continue.

 

“Eventually, I ended up here, and I got in contact with your Batman.”

_Batarangs fly, and Artemis is forced to dodge again. She always hates this part. Moving to a new dimension, convincing a new Batman, pretending it didn’t hurt to watch another Wally die…_

“Our own Batman and another one of my colleagues came with me to explain things.”

_The fight is over quickly, as it should be. Batman is no match for himself_ and _two others. Now is the actual hard part. They’ve learned that Batman is the only one who will ever take the threat of the Anomaly seriously. Even so, he’s a bat, and it’s hard to convince him to trust them._

_She’s glad their Batman donates a few hours of his time to help them in Universes like this, where that don’t have trans-dimensional technology and other-Batman is less inclined to believe the heroes’ story. Still, they always let Nightwing do the talking. It seems Batmen are naturally inclined to trust the joyful bird._

_So Nightwing talks and Artemis lets Batman run his tests and all to soon she’s saying goodbye to_ her _Batman and Nightwing and helping_ this _Batman set up her history here._

“We convinced him that we were telling the truth. Batman gave me information on the Legion, and I thought I could do the most good there.  Once we decided on that plan, he promised me not to tell you guys. Not for his own sake, but for mine. We’ve had problems with moles in the League before. We decided not to risk it.”

_It is easy, to fall into sync with another Batman. They set up passcodes and contact frequencies. They share intel and draw comparisons between dimensions. She tells him about their Wally, when he asks._

_She doesn’t ask about this Wally._

_It only takes a few hours – she’s done this before, she knows exactly what she needs – and they have their plan._

_Artemis is gone from the cave before sunrise._

_Tigress has some hunting to do._


	8. Interlude- Kaldur'ahm

He is worried.

He shouldn't be. Artemis is more than capable of taking care of herself. He knows this, perhaps better than anyone else on the team. Even so…

Fourteen days.

They've been out of contact for longer, but never without prior notice. That's how he knows she isn't just on some extended op; she would have warned them. He can think of little else good that would keep her silent for two weeks. The others are worried, in an abstract sense, but only he feels like  _something_ has to have happened.

He likes to think he has a better connection to her that the others. That they fell into sync in those months under the sea when their fates were twined so closely together, when their lives depended on each other and a lie. He even understands, vaguely, that this is at least half-true.

He has always worried for the other 'sidekicks.' Before Roy came along, he was the oldest of the three (and even after Speedy débuted, he was still the most mature), and felt it his duty to care for the younger heroes. When the Team formed, he became their leader, and their well being rested directly in his hands. Even after they enacted The Plan and he – for all intents and purposes – stood against them, he did only what he had to for their sakes.

Things seemed to change, when he killed Artemis. They felt closer to him than the fate of the world. More personal. Her life was again directly in his hands. He had failed those he cared about most once already (Oh Garth, oh  _Tula,_ forgive him). He would not do the same to Wally and Artemis.

Except that he did.

He and Artemis completed their mission. They got the intel, and they got out alive. It broke his heart, and his Father's, but his Team was safe. But because he failed at the summit, their enemies escaped. Wally paid the price.

He couldn't save Wally and Artemis after all. (And it was Garth and Tula all over again.)

He watched Artemis fall apart.

Dick was the one who shared in her grief, in her loss of the person she was closest to. Conner was the one who acted as her rock, her emotional support. M'gann was the one who cheered her up, who understood girls and love and loss.

But he himself was her comfort.

He knew what it was like to lose the person you loved. It felt natural for her to come to him. For them to continue the façade they had maintained for his Fa- for Black Manta's sake. He stopped locking his door, so on any given night she could crawl into his bed, and he would hold her while she cried. Often, they would fall asleep in each other's arms, reminding each other that they weren't alone.

It never went further than that, and everyone believed them when they said so. Neither of them felt that sort of attraction to each other, and even if they did, their emotions were too raw to tarnish their lovers' memories like that. They were simply two people who could help hold the others' pieces together, though that is a strong connection in its own right.

So he could admit to himself that they were connected, more than any of the others. Life and Death. Love and Loss. They were the ones who had dealt most closely with these things. Together.

_Symbiosi._

Out of the whole team, he worried about her the most, but he also believed in her the most. He would give her the benefit of the doubt and wait through the weekend for her to make contact.

If a small piece of himself whispered,  _you can't abandon Wally, you owe it to him,_ well. A larger piece of him whispered,  _Artemis is what he would care about more._ Besides, he was tired of watching the people he loved die.

So.

Two days.

Then he would go after her.


	9. Interlude- Roy and Jade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t even… the next chapter is sticky, and I’m not putting it out until it’s a lot better than it is right now. Somewhere around Monday night, though, these guys started bothering me for some scene time. Sorry about this. It was supposed to be a real chapter. This pretty much has no bearing on the plot, as I didn’t expect these guys to show up until, like, the epilogue, or close to it. Hope you enjoy it, though. It’s barely edited, and not great, because Jade’s hard to write, and I have no idea what Lian is supposed to be like, but…

“Daddy! You’re Home!” It’s the highlight of Roy’s day when his baby girl comes running up to him like that.

 

“I am, Princess. How was your day today?” He drops his things, scoops her up, and continues in to the living room. Jade must be around here somewhere; she wouldn’t have picked Lian up only to leave her at home alone.

 

“It was great! I got to go to the Allen’s, an’ Ms. Iris made cookies, an’ me an’ Dawn tricked Don to play ninjas and princesses with us and then we rescued him from the dragon, but he turned out to be an evil ninja, so Dawn had to rescue him with the power of her love, ‘cause a good princess can’t have an evil ninja for a brother…”

 

Lian continues to prattle on and he makes suitably impressed noises as he continues to search for his wife. She’s not in the living room, the kitchen, Lian’s bedroom or their bedroom. That doesn’t really leave any other options in the apartment proper. She must be in the ‘cape bunker,’ as she so sarcastically likes to call it, then.

 

That’s… not a good sign.

 

He hesitates to put Lian down. This probably isn’t something she should be involved in, but if Jade is getting sucked back into another mission, back to that life, then Lian may be the only thing he has to convince her to stay.

 

He holds Lian tighter as he steps into the hall closet, and slides open the hidden panel that leads to the other half of his and Jade’s life.

 

“So then Don tried to cheat with his super speed, so I threw my apple at him. It smacked right on his forehead! Then he kinda fell a little and stepped on his toy truck and then that made him fall all the way! Dawn stopped to laugh, but I ran over an’ pinned him before he could get up, just like you taught me!”

 

“That’s my girl.”

 

He had thought the room was empty for a moment, until Jade’s voice sounded from the corner. He slips on the full set of lights, and see his wife sitting on one of the workbenches, arms crossed, waiting for him. Her Cheshire gear is laid out behind her.

 

“Lian, sweetheart? Mommy and Daddy need to talk about something. Could you go upstairs and pick out the book you want Daddy to read to you tonight?”

 

“Is it… cape stuff?” His smart, precious little girl.

 

“Yeah, baby. It is.”

 

“Okay, Mommy.” She squirms until Roy sets her down. She scampers back up the stairs immediately. Jade glares at him and doesn’t say another word until they hear the panel in the closet open and close again. Tightly.

 

Jade slides off the table and turns her back to him. She inspects her sai as she says; “Iris said the most interesting thing today when I was picking Lian up.”

 

“Oh?” And his instincts scream trap, but he’s never been able to spar with her verbally. Maybe if they moved this to the mats…

 

“According to the Flash, Artemis hasn’t checked in for a while. I guess her teammates are getting nervous.” Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

 

“Chesh, listen-” And the sai flies past his head, burying itself in the wall. She’s facing him now, livid. Now he’s really worried. Jade _never_ loses it.

 

“No. You listen. You are going to tell me what you know about my sister. You are then going to explain why you didn’t tell me. It had better be a _very_ good reason.”

 

He swallows. “Chesh- Jade. I don’t… I don’t know that much. Ollie’s been twitchy all week. Artemis hasn’t contacted him in over a month. So we checked with the Team… she hasn’t made contact with _anyone_ , hasn’t even submitted a status report, in over two weeks.”

 

Her shoulders are shaking and _this_ is why he didn’t say anything to her. He remembers the last time Artemis ‘died.’ How it tore her up inside and out. How she was angry enough to team up with _Sportsmaster._  How she wouldn’t stop, not even for him, not even for Lian. How he and Lian almost lost her, permanently.

 

He’s glad that she and Artemis got close again after the Invasion. He really is. It made it less awkward when they all had to show up to Dinah’s mandatory Arrow Family Dinners, and gave Lian a chance to grow close to her Aunt Arty. But now it might tear Jade away from him and Lian. Because she dropped them to avenge her sister before; why wouldn’t she do the same again?

 

“Jade.” He’s speaking softly, but he knows her attention is fully on him. “You can’t… If something happened to Artemis, you can’t leave us like you did to go after Aqualad.”

 

“How dare you-“ He closes the distance between them and grabs her wrists. She could take him down easily, if she tried, but right now he thinks she’s going to let him finish.

 

“You once told me that Lian needs her father. That I had to be completely there for her. The same goes for you. Lian needs her mother. I know you love Artemis; she’s you’re little sister. Well, she’s my little sister too. But Artemis is grown up now. You can’t make up for how your childhoods were by going after anyone that hurts her now. She doesn’t need you to! But Lian does need you. Right now.”

 

Jade’s shutting down, the real Cheshire mask sliding onto her face even as smiling red and white is still sitting on the bench behind her. He tries a different tactic.

 

“Kaldur hasn’t even gone after her yet. He would have, if she was in that much trouble. Give her some more time. Either she’s already dead-” Jade tenses, but he keeps going. “and there’s nothing you can do for her, or she’s on some covert op and you’ll only make things worse for her. You need to be here for Lian. Let Kaldur handle this.”

 

He can practically see the fight that’s taking place in her mind. Finally she _twists_ and he loses her grip on her.

 

“You will keep me posted on Kaldur’ahm’s progress. And you will speak to Dinah. If something has happened to Artemis, she and Ollie can look after Lian while we go after the perpetrators.”

 

It’s not ideal, but he’ll take it. “Yes ma’am.”


	10. Consternation

They are silent for a long time when Artemis finishes. Her face is buried in Wally’s chest; he’s rubbing circles on her back. J’onn finally speaks.

 

“As trying as this night – and the ones before it – have been, may I suggest you break from our discussion for now?”

 

“Please. I- I think we’re going to go back to my room. If you guys don’t mind.” Artemis shifts out of his embrace, sliding to his side and putting her arm around his waist. He slings his arm over Artemis’s shoulders, and pulls her around to leave. Batman’s voice stops them at the door.

 

“We’ll need to tell the rest of the League something. They’ve been asking questions.”

 

He looks back at them over his shoulder. “I don’t care what you tell them, Bats… No. Tell them everything. They deserve to know, and it doesn’t matter.” He glances down at Artemis. “Not anymore.” He tries to leave again.

 

“Hot Shot!” John calls out to him. He looks back towards the table and John hesitantly comes over to him. He’s looking at the floor as he murmurs, “We- I need to talk to you about this. Eventually.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I… You… I’ll see you in the morning.” Wally doesn’t know what he was going to say, but he can guess. He won’t leave GL so anxious.

 

“John. You’re still one of my best friends.”

 

 “You too, Hot Shot.” He claps his hand on Wally’s shoulder. They smile weakly at each other. “You too.”

 

Artemis leans into his side, and he can’t wait anymore. He scoops her up, nods to his friends, and _runs._ In moments, they’re in his room on the Watchtower and finally alone.

 

“I’m sorry, I’ve missed you, I’m sorry.” He’s not sure which one of them is saying it, but they both mean it. Because he’s watched her die three times. Because she’s watched him die sixteen. Because they’ve lost so much that they didn’t have to.

 

Artemis pulls him down to her level and just touches her forehead to his. He looks into her eyes. He’s missed her eyes; grey shouldn’t be that deep and expressive. It definitely shouldn’t be that pained.

 

“I love you,” he breathes and closes the distance between their lips. He pulls her down onto his bed, because standing is taking effort away from getting close to her. They’re alive, together, and alone and that all that matter to right now.

 

He doesn’t know how much later it is when they speak again. It doesn’t matter, not when he has her in his arms.

 

“Do you want to talk about it? About… everything?”

 

“Do you?” She shoots right back.

 

“You know I don’t. Canary would be so disappointed.”

 

He chuckles. “She would, wouldn’t she? Though she probably wouldn’t be surprised. We were never good at the whole ‘sharing our feelings’ thing.”

 

They’re silent again, until she says, “We should go to Paris.”

 

“Mm?” She rolls to lean over him at his confused sound.

 

“Paris.” She kisses the base of his ear. “You’re on leave from the League,” She adds a kiss to his jaw. “Your job, if you still have one, won’t care that you’re gone a couple extra days at this point,” Her lips brush his cheek. “And most importantly, the world’s not ending.” She kisses his nose, and stares down into his eyes. “You owe me a trip to Paris.”

 

“I do, don’t I? You are far too persuasive for your own good, ‘Missy.” He leans up to catch her mouth with his.

 

When they break apart, she hesitates for a moment. “Just remember this in the morning.”

 

“Why?”

 

She worries her lip, but decides to play it straight. They’ve had enough secrets and lies for one lifetime. “Because I’d bet money they have – or will – make plans with the data I acquired, and they’ll probably exclude you. I’ve gotten very used to working with Batmen. They don’t mess around with these kinds of things.”

 

“What! They can’t! Not without me! I’m a founding member of the League!” He starts to get up, but she pushes him back down.

 

“Wally! Listen to me.” And he knows better than to argue with that tone. “I’m here because the Anomaly is close. Given everything that’s happened lately, it might already be here. Batman will have figured this out already, and the rest of the League will agree with him. There’s no need for you to take unnecessary risks. With the intel I’ve given to Batman, it won’t be difficult for the League to take the Legion down. Please don’t risk yourself. Not now. You’re not... you’re not _needed_ for this.”

 

He watches her die behind his eyelids, and realizes he has to get used to considering his loved ones again when he makes these decisions.

 

“I’m sorry, Beautiful. I won’t fight them on this. But… I can’t sit on the sidelines forever.”

 

“I know. I’m not asking you to. I won’t ask you to. It’s too late to leave the life completely. I mean… Don’t think I’m not trying to figure out how to get my hands on a new costume…”

 

“We’ll figure something out. The Flash needs his partner back, yeah? But… In the morning. It’s late.”

 

He reaches over her to flip the light off and she leans back into his arms. Again, they’re silent. He plays with her hair, hoping she will sleep peacefully after everything she’s endured.

 

“What are you thinking about?” She murmurs after a while.

 

“I’m wondering what your new costume will look like. I hope it’s like your old one. I liked the bare midriff.” He pokes her belly and she snorts, slapping his hand away.

 

“You never change. Go to sleep, you silly dork.”

 

“As you wish.”

 

XxXxX

 

No one moves to continue their discussion after Wally and Artemis’s exit. He finds that... unfortunate. He finds he’s doing slightly better without the young couple’s _painsadnessguiltrelief,_ but his fellow founder’s emotional backlash still has him reeling. He’d prefer to finish this discussion and retreat for some meditation time. He never wanted to handle this kind of grief again. He definitely didn’t want to handle it coming from Wally. (Because _Wally_ should _never_ have those feelings.)

 

He tries to center himself on one of the other Founders rather than his own thoughts.

 

Batman’s – Bruce’s feelings are carefully blank. He would use that as his anchor, if it weren’t for the sudden jolts of emotion that break through the Bat’s walls every few minutes. They’re quickly and efficiently tamped down, but even so, they’re a shock to his mindscape, much like a bucket of ice water to a human, and unpredictable enough that he can’t shield himself from them. He turns his focus to his other teammates.

 

Clark and Diana are all compassion, so he is not surprised that their emotions churn with hurt and sorrow. He understands these. Wally trusts them with everything… except that he apparently doesn’t. Even with Wally’s explanation, it hurts that he couldn’t share this with them. As for the sorrow… well. Wally’s their light. He’s not supposed to know sadness like that. It was an unspoken rule that he and the other Leaguers would protect him from that, so that he _wouldn’t._ Ever. Then to hear his lover’s tale. Well. J’onn knows that Clark fears failing his loved ones. Of course he would feel for the woman who had done just that, over and over again. Diana is compassionate towards all creatures. This had to hurt her, to see a sister, a fellow warrior, in such pain.

 

The emotions of his last to companions are more mystifying. Shayera and John are _angry._ It’s hard to pinpoint what they’re angry at. The world, for its cruelty? Wally, for lying to them? Artemis, for shattering the happy illusion they had of the Scarlet Speedster? No. If he knows them, (and his mind whispers that he does) then they’re angry with themselves. While all seven of them are close, John and Shayera are the closest to Wally. John’s his best friend. Shayera’s his sister. How could they not _know?_ More than that though, this isn’t something they can just fix. Yelling, smashing, those things will do no good here. He imagines that is the most frustrating thing of all for them.

 

It is frustrating for him as well. With no one calm (and no Wally here and happy) J’onn is actually going to have to face his own emotions. He does not like this. While the others are hurt or angry over Wally’s revelations and Artemis’s warnings, he finds himself preoccupied with another piece of information.

 

He has a niece.

 

No. He would have had a niece.

 

A beautiful, kind, _heroic_ niece. A girl he would have mentored. Who would have anchored him to both his old and new homes. Who would have loved him.

 

He feels for all that Wally went through; the kind, generous, _joyful_ speedster should never have had to do that. He feels, too, for Artemis’s troubles. But.

 

He would have had a niece.

 

And that’s what it just keeps coming back to, isn’t it? He had long since stopped picturing what his family would have been like. If his wife, his daughter, his brothers and sisters had survived. But now he knows, at least partially, what he could have had, and that one fact had irreparably burst through the walls of _don’t lose yourself to what-if’s_.

 

Because he would have had a niece.

 

She would have been wonderful enough that Wallythought she was worthy of courting, that Artemis would call her earth-sister. She would have embraced earth culture (and he is glad for that. This is a lonely world when you don’t feel you belong) and made a life they would both be proud of.

 

He can picture he passion, her curiosity, her love. He can picture the most important thing about her: she would have been _alive_.

 

She would have been _his_ niece.

 

He needs to stop this, like he needed to get away from Wally’s pain. He speaks up, before he can lose this moment of clarity to more rumination. “I was not simply trying to get rid of Flash and Artemis when I suggested rest. We are all tired. Is there more we need to discuss?”

 

“We need to go over the plans to take on the Legion of Doom,” Batman growls out immediately. J’onn notices that ‘talking shop,’ as Wally sometimes puts it, is smoothing Bruce’s emotions, losing them to the Bat’s clinical views.

 

“What we _need_ is to talk about Wally.”

 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with John.” Shayera cuts in before Batman can respond.

 

The Dark Knight simply stares and laces his fingers together in front of his chin. “Deal with your emotional responses on your own time. We have a closing window of opportunity to act on Tigress’ data and take down dozens of villains simultaneously.”

 

“Now listen here you emotionally constipated cave dweller-“ J’onn leans back at the anger behind the outburst, even as John moves half out of his seat, half-lunging across the table towards Batman.

 

“Do you really want to start this fight, Lantern?”

 

“Bruce! John!” Diana slaps her palm on the table; the two heroes dare not ignore her. “We are all tired. We are all distressed by what we have learned today. We have all been frantic for the past few weeks. Taking our frustration out on each other will not help us. John, I know you’re hurting. We all are. But discussing Wally’s revelations in his absence will not bring us to a meaningful resolution. Bruce, antagonizing us is counter-productive. Shayera, Bruce is also right. We need to take advantage of Artemis’s sacrifices and use this data for a counter strike.

 

Shayera frowns and crosses her arms, but doesn’t protest. John merely grumbles, “Fine, what’s the plan?”

 

Bruce explains quickly and efficiently, as always. They all trust his tactical abilities, despite his recently revealed deceptions, so there is little discussion, just the fine-tuning of the minute details.

 

“Flash isn’t on any of these teams.” Clark points out as they’re finishing up.

 

“Does anyone have a problem with that?” Batman practically growls at them.

 

“Wally will.” Shayera says quietly. She’s twiddling her thumbs together in a very… human gesture.

 

“Undoubtedly. I meant anyone else?” J’onn can feel that they’re shocked – almost affronted – at Bruce’s disregard for their teammate’s opinion. Even so, nobody speaks up.

 

XxXxX

 

Diana gazes down at the crowd assembled in the main bay of the Watch Tower.  When she asked for everyone onboard the satellite to assemble for some announcements, she expected only the few “night” watchmen and regular inhabitants to appear. Apparently, she underestimated the power of a rumor. Data logs showed that nearly every member of the Justice League was here. There hadn’t been this many people on board since the initiation of new members during the expansion of the League. She supposed this meant she would only have to do this once then.

 

“Thank you all for being here. I know it’s the middle of the night for most of us, so I appreciate your promptness and attention. I’ll be brief, so we can all get some sleep. Many of you probably have questions about the recent events surround Flash.”

 

There’s a murmur of agreement, acknowledging that this is something of an understatement; everyone’s dying to know what’s going on.

 

“I want to start off by assuring you that Flash is going to make a full recovery, he’s already cracking jokes and asking to be returned to duty.”

 

“Not to mention shacking up with villains.”

 

“Oliver!” There’s a slapping sound; Black Canary smacked the back of Green Arrow’s head.

 

“If you cannot keep your thoughts to yourself, Arrow, you can leave.” Diana is stern. She knows what they’re all thinking right now. That’s part of the reason they decided to go ahead and do this. “But thank you for leading me into my next point. Tigress – now Artemis – is allowed to roam here freely. Anyone who accosts her will face disciplinary action appropriate for harassing another League member.”

 

There’s another murmur of disapproval. Diana notices Hawk trying to make a scene form the back, but Dove is quietly stopping his attempts to call out. Thank Hera for people like him and Dinah; she refuses to lose control of this situation because of a couple hotheads inciting a mob’s frustration. Diana’s spent years dealing with John, Kal, Shayera _and_ Bruce. She can handle the rest of the League. She ignores the fact that she usually has Wally to help her diffuse the situation, and continues.

 

“Artemis is not our enemy. She has been acting as an undercover agent, passing information on the Legion to Batman. She’s on our side and we should all be grateful she is. It was she that organized Flash’s rescue, after all.”

 

She pauses before continuing. She wants to savor this brief moment while everyone is pacified, willing to accept what she’s telling them – that’s going to change after her next words. “There’s more. I know it’s going to be hard to believe, but I assure you, everything I’m about to tell you is the truth.” There’s an undercurrent of amusement in the crowd; no one in the League has ever doubted her words. She’s the Spirit of Truth, after all. Even so, she knows what she’s about to say is unbelievable. Diana herself doubted it at first, didn’t she? “The Flash – and Artemis – are from another dimension.”

 

That’s when she loses control of the situation.

 

XxXxX

 

“Mari!” John has finally found Vixen amongst the angry, confused Leaguers assembled in the main bay. Diana’s trying to explain the things Wally and Artemis told them, so the outbursts are beginning to settle down, but it’s still hectic. John identifies a few leading troublemakers amongst the skeptics, including Green Arrow and Hawk, and hopes they won’t be causing any problems in the near future. They have enough things to deal with as it is.

 

“John!” She sees him, and follows him to the back of the crowd, where they can actually talk and not just fight to hear each other. “Are you okay?” She asks as soon as she reaches him. Wally’s his best friend other than Rex, and he’s been stressed out these past few weeks over everything that’s been happening.

 

“I don’t know.” He really doesn’t. He doesn’t know if he can be okay until he and Wally can work this out. Because Wally was is one of his closest friends, and he had _no idea_.

 

“So all this is true then? Wally’s from another dimension? He was a part of another League?”

 

“Their covert ops group, can you believe it?”

 

“Yeah, that was more the sticking point for me than the ‘alternate universe’ thing.”

 

John can’t help how his lips twitch up into a half-smile. “I know. It’s pretty amazing. I never would have guessed the Hot Shot could be quiet, much less stealthy.”

 

She gives him an odd look, before hesitantly saying, “It seems like, from what Wonder Woman is saying, he had good reasons to keep quiet. It’s not personal John. I know he considers you a good friend.”

 

She knows him so well. “I know. I don’t blame him for it. Really. It’s just… how did I not notice that? How can he really consider me a friend when I don’t know him? How many times have we ignored his suggestions, derided his intelligence? He’s a genius, Vix, and we never took him seriously. That had to hurt. How does that not bother him? How can he not hold that against us?” John realizes the problem as he says it. That’s really what the biggest issue is here, isn’t it?

 

They’re superheroes. They keep secrets from each other. Hell, they didn’t even know each other’s real names for the first two years they knew each other! Wally keeping his past a secret is hardly a cardinal sin. No. It’s how they’ve always treated Flash that has this knot of guilt twisting up into a ball of fear and anger in John’s gut. John has struggled against prejudice his whole life. He’s been judged for his skin color, for being from a bad neighborhood, for being human, and even for being a superhero. Wally, at least, was playing the idiot to protect them, and they mocked him for it. How can Wally _not_ resent that?

 

“John.” He was so lost in his own thoughts that he flinches in surprise when his lover reaches out to cup his face. “So what if Wally is smarter or more serious that we thought? You can’t fake the extent of his forgiveness, his kindness. I’m sure Wally doesn’t hold anything against you.”

 

“He... he did said I was still one of his best friends.”

 

“There you go. Wally wouldn’t lie to you. Well, not about that.”

 

“Yeah.” She’s right.  Wally’s still _Wally._ His Hot Shot, even if they have to remove the word ‘idiot’ before they call him a goofball. That knot of _guiltsadnessanger_ is still there, but it’s less pressing than it was a few minutes ago. “You know, it’s completely unfair that Wally gets to spend the night with his girl, and here we are just standing here talking…”

 

“You’re reading my mind, Handsome.” She pulls him down for a kiss. He slings his arm around her waist and pulls her close as they head towards her quarters.

 

“Let me tell you about the big mission we’re gonna have while we head back to your room, mm? You’re gonna kick so much villain ass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so you all know the ‘cover art’ for this on ff.net was provided by the amazing IronicVeghead over on Deviant art (Seriously, go check out her stuff. It’s awesome! It gives me the feels!). 
> 
> Anyways, I stumbled across this: titanbeast(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Spitfire-AU-361954455, way after I had already written ruminations. It’s another JLU-style spitfire. That’s basically exactly what I’m picturing. I think he might be psychic, too, because some of the other pictures have definitely already been pictured/planned so… mental images for everyone!


	11. Commiseration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol. Originally posted the morning before I Man of Steel came our. Remember when Superman didn't kill and Pa Kent taught Clark to care about people?

It’s late when Clark gets home, but he finds the porch light on and a key under his ma’s favorite purple gnome for him, as always. A normal person would have no choice but to wake their parents in a creaky old house like this, but Clark has the advantages of experience and flight; he dodges every creaky step, and makes it to his old room silently. His Ma has his bed made up for him – again, as always – and he all but collapses into it.

 

In the morning, he’s awoken in the morning by the smell of baking biscuits and the sound of sizzling bacon.

 

“How’d you know I was here?” He asks his ma when he sneaks into the kitchen and sees four place settings.

 

“Oh, a Mother’s intuition.” She accepts his kiss on the cheek and waves a wooden spoon to his old chair. “Sit down, Dear.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

“Don’t you listen to her mumbo-jumbo nonsense, Clark. Kara tipped us off that the League issued an all-clear. It wasn’t a hard guess you might be coming after that.” His pa folds up his newspaper as Clark sits down.

 

“Jonathan! Stop giving away my secrets!” Martha shakes her spoon at him. He reaches out, grabs her hand and kisses it.

 

“Sorry Darlin.” Clark suddenly realizes how interesting his fingernails are. He’s not embarrassed. He’s not.

 

“Y’all are going to have to get a room. You’re upsetting Kal.”

 

“Kara!”

 

Said girl has finally gotten up and made it downstairs. She folds her arms and smirks at the Man of Steel. “Don’t deny it, ‘Cuz.”

 

“Oh, don’t be embarrassed, Dear. We’ll stop.” His ma says, and his pa chuckles.

 

Kara slips behind him and throws her arms around his neck. “Soooo… what’s up? I couldn’t make it last night, so you owe me some answers!” She gives him a squeeze with just enough Kryptonian strength to show she’s serious before sliding into her own chair.

 

“I really don’t know if I should…”

 

His pa presses. “Oh, c’mon, Clark! We’re all curious!”

 

“That Flash boy was always so nice. I do hope he’s okay.” And he can’t say no to Ma’s stern look of ‘you better tell me right now if I need to make some get-well soup.’

 

“He’s fine. He’s just… Not who we thought he was.”

 

“Oh?” Jonathon steeples his fingers to look at his son. Dishonesty is a serious issue, one that has plagued the League from day one, but he never would have expected it from the cheerful boy that ate every single bite Martha put on his plate (no mean feat, that).

 

“Not… Not in a bad way.” He glances at Kara and sighs. Stargirl was at the meeting last night. “You’re going to hear this as soon as Courtney wakes up and starts texting you anyways. Flash… isn’t exactly from around here.”

 

His parents listen attentively to his story, except when his mom has to pause to get the biscuits out of the oven. Kara is more opinionated, and he has to stop several times to assure her of the facts, but she seems satisfied with his explanations by the time she has to leave for school.

 

He’s helping his ma wash the dishes after breakfast when he finally says, “Am I a bad person?”

 

“Oh sweetie! Of course you’re not!” His ma immediately assures him.

 

His pa glances at him and asks, “What makes you say that, Son?”

 

“Just… a few things.”

 

Martha puts down the dish she was drying and pulls her son to sit between herself and his pa. They wait for him to gather his thoughts and speak.

 

“IkindofagreewiththeLords.” He says in a rush.

 

“Come again?” Pa asks.

 

“I… kind of… agree with the Justice Lords.” He winces, and waits for his parents to speak.

 

“Oh, sweetheart!”

 

“Calm down Martha! Let the boy talk for a minute without your coddling. Say your piece, Clark, then we’ll see if we need to talk you outta something.”

 

This is why he had to come to his parents with this. The League would probably throw him out (or at the very least sic Question on him) for saying such things. Lois would hit him with whatever paper she was inevitably writing and saddle him with an outraged rant as soon as he got the words out. His parents, though, have always known when to listen and when to talk him around to a new way of thinking.

 

“It’s just, the whole time Artemis was telling us about the Light, about Luthor, all I could think of was how much damage would have been prevented if we had stopped them in the first place. I mean, if we had _stopped them_ stopped them.” He runs his hand through his hair.

 

“I’m not talking about everybody. I know we shouldn’t – we can’t – go that far. I’m talking about the dangerous ones. The ones that keep doing bad things, over and over. Luthor became the head of the _United Nations._ He and his cronies got so many people killed… How easy would that have been to stop? One man’s life for all of those innocents… Or what about the Joker? How many times has Batman put him away? He always gets back out. He always kills more people, tortures them… Artemis said, in her universe, he tortured Bruce’s son to death! Why does someone like that deserve to live? To keep hurting others? It’s not fair!” He slams his fist on the table, and it buckles.  They’re all forced to jump out of their seats to avoid the debris. “Daggummit! I’m sorry, Ma, Pa, I’ll get you a new table. I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry…”

 

He’s almost whining, backtracking from his anger out of guilt.  His Ma just pulls him down into a hug. “It’s okay sweetheart. We know you didn’t mean to. It’s okay…” She murmurs in his ear. He gives her a squeeze and a kiss on the head, but she doesn’t let go, so he’s forced to raise his eyes to meet his pa’s.

 

“Well, I’m just a simple farmer, not really experienced in making life or death decisions like you,” His pa scratches his head. His voice is steady. It’s a familiar, comforting balm to his emotional upheaval. “But it seems to me you’re missing a few pieces that turn your logic right on it’s head.

 

Clark pushes his mother away and shakes his head. “Who am I to be judge, jury and executioner, once I start where do I stop, every life is precious,” He mimics. He’s heard all of these arguments before. “I _know._ I really do. And I remind myself of them all the time. But then Luthor turns around and….”

 

“Stop, Son.” His father holds up his hand. His voice is gentle, but Clark knows well enough to obey. “Those _are_ good points, the ones we raised you on. But I was thinking of something else.”

 

He steps forward, next to his wife, and put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “People _change_ Son. Sometimes unexpectedly. When you take that permanent solution, you take that chance away from them.” He looks right into his son’s eyes. “What I’m saying is, who are you to decide who’s _never_ going to change?”

 

“But they _never_ do!”

 

“Never? You can’t think of _anyone_ that’s stopped being a villain, or even a villain that’s done some good in their life?”

 

Clark is suddenly reminded of an early part of Artemis’ story.

 

_I never wanted them to know that I was from a family of villains. The Team –once I told them – never held that against me. They said it didn’t matter. That_ I _got to decide who I could be._

“Artemis… her mom quit being a villain. She was the one that got Artemis into the hero business. She’s part of the reason Artemis’ sister became a hero too. Quit the League of Shadows after _years_ of being an assassin to work covert ops for the Justice League instead…”

 

_This is awkward… um. Clark, Superboy isn’t full Kryptonian. Now don’t be all prejudiced, because Conner’s an awesome person and your counterpart loves him… but he was created by Cadmus and the Light using your DNA… and Luthor’s._

“And my brother… My counterpart’s brother. He would never have been created if not for Luthor.”

 

_It was awful being down there for Kaldur. His dad really did care for him you know? And… Kaldur loved him a lot, too. Even when we were planning to take him down… he talked to me every night, about how he might change Manta’s mind. How he would get permission to visit him if we won, if we got him in Bel Rev… It sort of became our secondary mission on the sub._

“And there was a villain, Black Manta… he’s still bad, I think, but his son loves him a lot, and thinks he can change him. I… I would feel terrible, if I loved someone, and someone else didn’t give them that chance…”

 

He sinks back into one of the chairs, head in his hands. “What if I was wrong? Because I could kill Luthor now, and maybe prevent whatever he’s planning next. But he’s brilliant. He might be curing cancer, or ending world hunger, or making me a baby brother. How do I say, _now_ he’s irredeemable? That he has nothing good left to offer? And if I could say that, would I be able to do any good if I’m that heartless?” He can feel his conviction returning as he mutters through these thoughts. His parents were always good about that, about getting him to see the right path, and to walk it with confidence. Finally, he sighs. “You’re right. As always. Thank you for helping me see things clearly again. Even if the answer is frustrating.”

 

His Pa pats him on the back, and his mom pulls his hands between her own, forcing him to look at them.

 

“You know we’re always glad to help, Son.”

 

XxXxX

 

Diana finds Shayera in one of the training rooms, attempting to mutilate a perfectly good sparring bot.

 

“You did a good job, y’know, with the explanations and stuff.” Shayera compliments without pausing in her assault.

 

“Thanks.” Diana watches her fellow heroine punch, block, kick, dodge, and finally, pull out her mace and smash, the bot. “Feeling better?”

 

“Not even a little.”

 

“Want to talk about it?”

 

Hawkgirl gives her a look. “If you drag me into girl bonding over this, I am not painting my nails.”

 

“It wouldn’t do much good anyways.” Once upon a time, Shayera would have taken offense at that. Once upon a time, Diana would have _meant_ offense.

 

“You’re telling me. I haven’t found a single polish that can withstand more than three punches without chipping. I don’t know why Dinah bothers.” They share a smile for a moment. “Wanna see if live sparring is more effective than bot-smashing?”

 

“Tempting. Not sure it’s actually going to make you feel better though.”

 

“No. Probably not.” Shayera drops her mace, and flops down onto the mats, careful of her wings. “I’m exhausted, and all I want to do is push through it and keep hitting stuff.”

 

Diana sits down, knees to her chin, and folds her arms around her legs. “I know the feeling.” She’s thinking of smashed cars and broken pool tables and Ares’ war machine.

 

“Does it bother you that he lied to us?”

 

“…He seemed to have good reasons for it. Does it bother you that we didn’t notice?”

 

Shayera’s grip tightens on her mace. “No.”

 

“It bothers me.”  Shayera immediately sits up at her friend’s confession. “It’s just…” She shrugs. “I thought we were family. Batman’s supposed to be the mysterious loner. Not Wally.”

 

Shayera can’t argue with that, but she feels she needs to break the silence weighing in on them. “Do you have a sister?”

 

“All the Amazons are my sisters.”

 

“I know, I mean… a biological sister. Artemis was telling me about the Team. They had a Donna – your little sister – for a while.”

 

“That’s a strange thought. I don’t have a biological sister. I can’t. My mother made me out of clay, and the God’s blessed me with life.”

 

“No kidding?”

 

“No kidding.”  Again, they’re silent. Diana breaks it this time, and Shayera’s glad they’re not giving each other time to just be… contemplative. “I didn’t get to speak with Artemis. What do you think of her? She seems… nice. Good name.”

 

“Yeah. She’s even an archer by trade, appropriately enough.”

 

“Really? Why the sword then?”

 

Shayera lifts her wings in something like a shrug. “Says she gave it up after…” She waves her hand in a circle. “Everything.”

 

“Ah. Of course. I hope she is able to pick it up again. It would be a shame for such a skill to go to waste. She’s lost enough as it is.”

 

Shayera thinks of Artemis’ losses, and then her own. Her people, her family, her former life… she feels compelled to ask, “Do you think we would have been happier?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“It seemed like – in the other universe – that we were both on good terms with our people. Do you think we’d be happier if we could be with our families?” Diana looks her right in the eye for a moment.

 

“I am with my family.”

 

“Okay, now you’re getting too sentimental for me. I’m rested. Let’s spar.” She stands up and offers her hand to the other heroine.

 

“Very well.”

 

Later, when they’re both sweat-soaked and breathing hard after a good fight, she resists the urge to confess to Diana. _Me too. You all are my family too._

 

XxXxX

 

Bruce leaves the Watchtower alone, as always. He teleports to the Gotham and drives the single-passenger Batmobile back to an empty Cave. He puts his suit up in its case in the corner and ignores the space that could have been filled with other cases, other suits. He walks up to the main house and sees that Alfred has set him a plate in the family dining room. He sits down to eat without acknowledging the other seats, which have never been filled. When he finishes, he heads upstairs to bed. He never once looks at the doors he passes on the way, the bedrooms that he has never seen children in.

 

He’s about to slip into his room when Alfred appears at the end of the hallway.

 

“Master Bruce! I apologize for being absent upon your return. I’m glad to see you are unharmed. Did anything of importance happen tonight?”

 

He answers quietly before continuing into his room, and closing the door firmly behind himself.

 

“No, Alfred. Nothing important happened.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? You thought Batman was going to talk about his feelings? Silly reader.
> 
>  
> 
> But yeah, this fic finally passed the Bechdal Test! That was harder than I thought. Sorry if it was a bit stilted, but once I realized I was close to finally passing it, (seriously, the only other girl-girl scene was in Ruminations and Shay and Arty spent the WHOLE time talking about Wally) I couldn’t bear to bring it back to Wally/the other guys/etc. like I originally intended.
> 
>  
> 
> As always, hope you liked it, I’d love to hear about it even if you didn’t. It really does affect what I write (like this chapter. This was not here last week, then everyone wanted more reactions, and I got inspired).
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. I really do believe in most of the arguments I gave Superman not to kill, but I don’t think they hold up for the Joker. He’s nuts, and if Batman won’t kill him, some cop needs to just shoot him next time he’s threatening them.


	12. Anticipation

The familiar growl of Wally’s stomach is what wakes her in the morning. He tugs on her hair and says, “Mmm. Alarm’s going off. We should get breakfast.” Waking up like this is wonderful. It’s just so familiar, so _normal,_ that she can’t help the euphoria that bubbles up inside her, escaping first as a giggle, then as full bellied laugh.

 

He joins her laughter, and loses himself enough to fall off the bed. Artemis just laughs more when his outraged face pops up over the edge. Eventually, after much laughter and several thrown pillows, they giggle through the process of getting washed and dressed for the day. Artemis tries to stall for one more pillow-shot, but Wally apparently isn’t going to wait anymore. He dodges, scoops her up over his shoulder and, despite her kicks and protests of “Put me down, Baywatch,” they’re suddenly in the Watchtower’s cafeteria.

“Milady, breakfast is served.”

 

“Jerk.” She huffs, and crosses her arms, ignoring his cocky grin in favor of breakfast. It really has been quite a while since she last ate.

 

She ignores the stares as they go through the line to get food. She ignores the stares as they pick an empty table and sit down. She ignores the stares as they eat. When she knocks a cup off the table with a sudden clang, and finds a crossbow in her face, she stops ignoring it.

 

“Are you _kidding_ me, Ollie?”

“Excuse _me_ for being a bit twitchy towards the villain-turned-heroine-from-another-dimension. Especially when _Batman_ is pulling the strings, keeping secrets from the people. For all we know, she’s just another Lord.”

“C’mon, GA. I’ll vouch for her!”

“Excuse me for not taking your word when it comes to a pretty face.”

Bystanders were as surprised as Ollie that it was not Flash who took offense to that, but Artemis. One moment, she’s sitting tensely at the table, the next; she’s on her feet, the throat of the Green Arrow uniform clenched in her hand.

“You have a problem with me? Fine. But do not. Insult. My boyfriend. He’d give his life for you. He _has_ given his life for you, regardless of me. You will trust him accordingly.”

“Tch. That still brings us back to the original problem. Why should I trust _you_?”

“Arrows always trust one another. Cardinal rule of a non-powered superhero.” Artemis sneers, and watches Ollie’s eyes widen despite the mask.

“Are you saying… _I_ trained you?”

Artemis nods. “Your counterpart in my dimension did.”

He looks thoughtful now. “Prove it.”

She releases his uniform and stares at him for a moment, arms crossed. “Okay.”  She slips her leg between his, hooking it around his ankle and yanking to the side. When he jerks to keep his balance she grabs the wrist of one of his flailing arms and twists it behind his back even as she leans forward to take advantage of his now-weak stance. In two seconds they’re on the ground; him pinned beneath her with his arm behind his back.

“That,” he huffs, face in the floor, “was a Canary move.”

“Congrats for recognizing it. She was in charge of our Team’s training for a couple years. Also, in our world, you’re not such a complete _ass_ so she likes you a lot more. You’ve been together longer than I’ve known you. Of course she’d give a few extra lessons to your partner.”

“Ouch Babe. That was harsh.” Wally offers her his hand and she takes it to stand up, releasing Ollie with a smirk.

“Yeah, but you’ve seen him with Roy. It takes a lot to get through his thick skull.”

“Okay. So you’ve got Canary’s moves and my cutting wit.” Wally and Artemis snort, but Ollie ignores them. “But that doesn’t mean you can shoot.”

More than a little annoyed at being tested by now, Artemis puts her hands on her hips and says, not a little sarcastically, “I’d show you how well I can shoot, but I don’t have an arrow set with me. Oh well.”

“Oh, you are not getting out of this that easily. I’ll get you a bow and arrows, and I’m going to watch you shoot.”

As much as she would like to just take Ollie hand to hand and make him shut up, Artemis suddenly realizes that she can use this to her advantage.  She assumes her best ‘M’gann’ voice. “Really? Thanks so much! That’s really generous of you. Of course, I’m going to need a new uniform too, to go with it.” She grabs Wally’s hand and starts pulling him towards the door. “I’ve got to go right now, but I’ll send you my measurements and some designs. I think I want something in your colors, so that’ll be easy for you. I’ll come pick them up on Wednesday, from the Arrow Cave, okay? Thanks! See you then!” With that, she makes her exit from the dumfounded Green Arrow and dozens of other League heroes.

Hawk watches her go and leans over to say to his brother, “I change my mind. I like her.”

XxXxx

“What was that about?” Wally asks as they head towards the teleportation bay, taking a quick detour to the detention cells to get Artemis’ confiscated things.

“Ollie was offering a bow and arrows, and I need a new costume to be Artemis again. Plus, I really wanted to tick him off. Two birds, one stone.”

“When did you get so manipulative, Beautiful?”

 

“A girl picks these things up when she spends as much time as I have infiltrating villain’s lairs.”

 

“Right. I keep forgetting.”

 

They’re silent for the short time it takes them to reach the cells where her stuff is kept. At that point, Wally can’t resist breaking the mood.

 

“How do I look, Babe? Think I could be a swordsmen?” He asks, waving her sword around.

 

“So help me if you impale yourself on that thing…”

 

“C’mon, have some faith!” Of course, at that exact moment he trips. He manages to catch himself, but gets the sword lodged in the table. She glares. “Erm… Oops. Sorry?” He rubs the back of his head. She’s always found that too cute to stay mad at him for long.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Help me pull this out, Kid Crash.”

 

“Alright I deserved that…”

 

By some miracle of luck, when they finally make it to the teleportation bay, Artemis’ weapons are all more-or-less intact.

 

“Beam us down to Central City please, Scotty.”* Wally jumps up onto the teleportation platform.

 

“No,” Artemis interjects, “Send us to Happy Harbor.”

 

Wally looks back at her. “Uh, seriously, Babe?” _Feeling nostalgic?_ He doesn’t say.

 

She pulls him to the side, out of the technician’s hearing. “The League got one thing right. The Cave is an excellent hiding place. That’s where all of my stuff is. I haven’t checked in since the Legion went on lock down. Everyone’s probably going crazy.”

 

“Wait, you can contact everyone else?!?”

 

Artemis nods.

 

Wally wheels around, pulling Artemis on to the platform. “Tech! Send us down to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island! ASAP!”

 

XxXxX

 

Wallace Rudolph West, despite how he’s had to act for these past few years, is not a stupid man.

 

He understands the math, the physics, of what happened to him in the Artic. He’s familiar with the leading theories of space-time and the multiverse. He’s more than intelligent enough to put the two together and develop a rough estimate of how he ended up, alive and well, in this universe.

 

That was why, when he first arrived, he was able to put two and two together very quickly (well, technically he put epsilon-nought and a Lagrangian coefficient** together very quickly). When his friends seemed to disappear, his League comm went dead, and civilians freaked out at the sight of him, all just after he had been disintegrated by an unstable, high-energy vortex? He made an educated guess. It only took fifteen minutes on Google to mentally declare his theory confirmed.

 

It took another few hours of searching (and a little morally dubious hacking), before he had begun to panic. He was definitely in another dimension. He was also definitely stuck.

 

His ‘allies’ wouldn’t know him, and had no reason to believe him. The tech he would need to get home was nowhere near being developed, and he wouldn’t be able to speed said development along without funding and resources he had no way to get. He didn’t even know enough about Reach tech to risk getting back the same way he came.

 

His one boon was that Wally West didn’t seem to exist here. He could make himself a life here, even if it wasn’t the one he had wanted.

 

The first time he whipped by Happy Harbor in this dimensions, he was on a League mission. It was the mountain that made him realize where he was. He stopped and stared at it, a wave of nostalgia and homesickness overwhelming him. That day, Wally wept harder than he had when _their_ Mt. Justice was destroyed. He hadn’t been back since.

 

Until now.

 

“Wow babe, I like what you’ve done with the place.” He whistles in appreciation when they finally get past her layers of security. The inside is reminiscent of their old cave, though it definitely has its own distinct flair. He’s not sure if the place is actually styled in a more mature manner, or if he’s being fooled by the copious amounts of advanced tech and the lack of rebellious teenagers. He decides to be generous and attribute it to both.

 

“Oh _man_ this stuff is nice.  Zeta and teleportation platforms…. Global monitoring system…. Pantry full of rations…. Mmm, cheese whizzies … Holy Cow! Is this a full analysis laboratory? You even have a scanning auditory microscope! Those things are _so_ cool! I got to see one at MIT once, and I’ve been trying to subtly hint to Bats that the League needs one, but it’s not like I could outright say it, ya know? Ooh! I don’t even know what this is!”

 

“It’s TD tech.”

 

“What?”

 

“Trans-Dimensional Technology.”

 

“…Why did you guys let Conner name it”

 

“That obvious?”

 

“Hoooo yeah.” They burst out laughing.

 

“But seriously, do you do this in every dimension? That’s gotta be expensive. All this tech, weapons supplies, food, a pretty decent looking bunk, not to mention security. Batman can’t be bankrolling this whole operation.”

 

“Well, technically he’s not.” Wally raises his eyebrow and she explains, “Most of the time, the Batman of whatever universe we’re in helps out.”

 

“Seriously? How did you guys pull that?”

 

“How do you think?”

 

“Dick.” He says with no hesitation.

 

“Bingo. Haven’t met a Bat yet that can say no when that boy bats his metaphorical eyelashes.” She shakes her head in amusement, but notices her boyfriend’s smile no longer reaches his eyes. “You okay, Babe?” She asks, reaching over to give his hand a squeeze.

 

“Yeah… I’m good.”

 

“Do you want me to call them?”

 

Wally’s quiet a moment, but finally breathes deeply and nods. “Do it.”

 

XxXxX

 

Dick all but lunges for his communicator when he sees who’s calling. “Artemis?”

 

“Way to break protocol, Troll Wonder. You don’t know that this line is secure yet. What ever would the Bat say?” God, it’s good to hear her voice.

 

“That you’re a hypocrite for lecturing me on procedure when you haven’t checked in for more than two weeks.”

 

“Not my fault the Legion’s HQ is basically a giant Faraday Cage. No signals in or out. Speaking of, we should work on that. It’s a little embarrassing that we can get reception across dimensions, but we don’t have anything to bootleg a signal out of a metal building.”

 

“Noted. I’ll speak to Kid Flash about it. I’m sure he and Bumblebee can jimmy something together. Now talk. Why were you stuck with the Legion for two week without warning?”

 

“I’d prefer not to have to talk about it twice. Can we get the rest of the team on the line?”

 

“I’m already patching through to Oracle. She should have us routed through to the others in less than twenty seconds.” She’s silent for a moment, and he continues. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”

 

“Yeah.” He doesn’t like the sound of that, but is interrupted before he can comment on it.

 

“Tigress. You are unharmed?”

 

“I’m good, Kaldur.”

 

“I am glad to hear that.”

 

“Artemis! You’re okay!” M’gann’s voice patched through next.

 

“It’s good to hear from you too, M’gann.”

 

“Sorry, had to slip out of a meeting, Tigress made contact?”

 

“I’m here, Conner.”

 

Nightwing cuts him off. “Okay, okay, we got it. Artemis is fine.  I know we’re all relieved. Can we talk about why you went off the grid now?”

 

“I’m sorry about that, guys. The Legion called an emergency session, then we went into lock down.”

 

“Why the sudden security protocols?”

 

“…They had captured the Flash.” They all gasp at that.

 

“Is... Is he…?” M’gann tries to ask.

 

“No. I got him out.”

 

“Are _you_ okay?” Dick asks instead.

 

“Yeah. The rescue blew my cover, but Batman vouched for me with the League. Eventually.”

 

“You know that’s not what Nightwing was asking, Artemis.”

 

“I know, Kaldur. I’m… better than I’ve been in a while.”

 

Conner finally comments with the words Dick is thinking. “Are you falling in love with him again?”

 

“Oh my god, you guys! It was one time! Let it go!”

 

As always, Kaldur is the peacemaker. “We do not mean to offend, Artemis. We are simply worried for you.”

 

“We know how hard this has been for you, Artemis. We just want you to know we care.” M’gann adds.

 

“I know, M’gann. I really do.” The line is silent; Nightwing can practically hear everyone waiting for Artemis continue. “You guys, I… I have some bad news and some good news.”

 

“The Anomaly is there.” Dick doesn’t need Batman’s lessons level to figure that out.

 

“I believe so.”

 

“Do you need back up?”

 

“No. I’m not certain it’s here. Continue your operations, I just need you on alert in case I need emergency support.”

 

“Roger that.”

 

“Artemis, what’s the good news?”

 

“I...” She’s silent for a moment, as if she suddenly changed her mind on what to say. “I think I should tell you guys in person. Could everyone free up a couple hours next weekend to meet?” They answer in the affirmative, and slowly work out the details on when it’s possible for them to all get together. Nightwing will have to move a few things around, but Dick doesn’t mind. He’s glad he’ll get to see so many of his friends – his family – together again. Artemis having good news is just a bonus. They _need_ some good news.

 

One by one the other three sign off, until it’s just him and Artemis again. He has to say one more thing before he hangs up. “Artemis… take care of yourself, okay? If you need us, use the signal. We’ll be there for you.”

 

“I know, Dick. Thank you.”

 

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

 

The line goes dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Of course, Wally is aware ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ was never said in any of the shows or movies. After years and years of banging his head against the wall trying to explain that to people/trying to get people to recognize any of the ‘legitimate’ quotes, he broke down and began using the pop-culture misenclature. 
> 
> **I decided to go swimming instead of actually looking at the theoretical math behind popular interdimensional mechanics theories, so take this with a grain of salt. Still, it didn’t seem completely unreasonable to apply Lagrangian methods to solve some of the electromagnetic equations that would no doubt be involved, so I‘m sticking with it. That way, I can pretend I got something useful out of math this year.


	13. Adaptation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all can celebrate. I have a beta now. Introducing, the wonderful FlopsyTheStingyDingo. She’s been awesome this week, making me write stuff in a decent time frame and giving me ideas when I got stuck. Thank her, everybody! I wouldn’t have been able to do the Ollie/Artemis challenge without her. (P.S, thank you guys for asking me to do that. It didn’t turn out how I wanted, but I’m glad I got a shot at it. Y’all make me so happy.)

Artemis hangs up the call and turns around to see her boyfriend staring sadly at the communication system.

 

“You okay, Baywatch?”

He blinks a few times and then looks at her. His eyes are shining.

 

“Of course. I’m just… you’re… they…” He sinks to his knees and puts his face in his hands.

 

“Wally! Shh! Shh, shh shh. It’s okay!” She sinks down next to him and rubs circles on his back. He just shakes his head, face still in his hands.

 

“I know. I’m… I’m fine.” She continues rubbing his back while he breathes. “I haven’t heard their voices in so long.” He finally whispers. “They don’t exist here! Believe me, I looked. I know you’re alive! You’re here! And it still keeps hitting me every three seconds that you’re really you. And they’re really them, after all this time… I shouldn’t have chickened out. I should have talked to them…”

 

“No, Wally, you’re fine. You didn’t chicken out. You’re right that they’ll want to see you in person.” He doesn’t speak, so eventually she adds, “C’mon, Baywatch. We just need to get through this week. We’ll have to cut our trip to Paris short, but this time next week, everyone’s going to be here. M’gann’s probably going to cry, and then try to make you cookies, and, and Conner might try to punch you, and Kaldur will probably stand in the corner trying not to be emotional, and Dick is totally going to tackle you – actually, twenty bucks he’s actually speechless for a minute.”

 

Her rambling does the trick. Wally sniffles, wipes his eye, and gives her a half smile. “Dick, speechless? Never. I’ll raise you thirty-five against.”

 

“You’re on.” She grins back.

 

“What… what then? I definitely want the team to know first, but after? When can I go back and, and see everyone?”

 

“Once everyone is willing to let you out of their sight, we can borrow one of their transporter beacons and visit home right away, if you want.”

 

“Yeah… that sounds nice.” He’s contemplative for a minute, before suddenly seeming to remember something. “Oh! We better check out if they have a Mipsy’s here, because if they don’t we better find another cute café that M’gann will approve of. Maybe get some lunch while we’re at it?”

 

“Sounds like a date.”

**……**

XxXxX

 

Monday:

Keystone’s Sunnyside Apartment Complex

 

“And the best part is they have a laundry room down the hall, on the same floor!” Wally’s excitement is adorable. The run-down flat is hardly the awesome pad he’s been describing, but it’s cute. Definitely masculine, though. Artemis will definitely have to add a few of her own touches, though. Make it a little less bachelor and a little more _them._

 

“Babe, you have super speed. That is literally of zero concern to you.” Of course, if she’s able to get a job, they might be able to afford to move into something a little bigger in a couple months… and she should know better than to plan for the long term by now.

 

“Yeah, but I know how much you hated going down to the laundry mat and carrying laundry up the stairs in our old home, so I thought you’d care.”

 

“That’s… really sweet. Thanks.” As he continues his ‘grand tour’ she begins to notice a pattern, especially over the feature’s he’s excited about. She can’t help but blurt out, “This place is the exact opposite of ours…”

 

He stills. “Yeah… that’s kind of what I liked about it. It doesn’t remind me of you.” She pulls him into a hug when he tries to look away in chagrin.

 

“Wally, I-” She’s interrupted by a knock.

 

“Wallace, dear! Is that you?” Wally pulls back.

 

“Yes ma’am! I’m coming!” He rushes over to throw open the door. “Mrs. Robertson! It’s good to see you!” He throws his arms around the gray-haired woman in the doorway. She’s a short, thin little thing, but Artemis can see the steel in her eyes. It’s the same look she’s seen on her mother, Wally’s Aunt Iris, and Ma Kent. It’s the look that says, ‘You may be more physically able than I am, but you are _my_ child and you will listen to me.’

 

“It’s good to see you too, dear. I was so worried! Mr. Malone called to let me know that you got sick at your conference, and asked me to water your plant. Honestly, dear, it’s just rude for your boss to keep sending you to these last minute conferences. It’s not good for the body to be under such sudden stress. No wonder you got so sick! Did they get you to a good hospital? Treat you right?” Wally must be used to her mothering, as he merely steps aside, allowing the woman to barge into the apartment and begin inspecting the place with a practiced eye. It seems to meet her approval, because she nods and turns back to them, waiting sweetly for his answer.

 

“Yes ma’am. Really, I promise I’m fine.” She looks at him critically, so he continues. “Look, I even met one of my old friends from Happy Harbor! She stayed with me though my whole… ordeal.”

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Robertson.” Artemis shakes the woman’s hand.

 

“Oh, you’re such a polite girl. You must be Megan. Wally’s told me all about how kind you are. Didn’t exaggerate what a pretty girl you are, either.”

 

“Um, actually, I’m Artemis.”

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Wally’s told me lots about you, too.”

 

Wally’s looking nervous now, and Artemis glares at him. “What exactly has he been saying about me?” She asks as politely as she can. The older woman just laughs.

 

“You were right on the money, Wallace. She’s exactly the little spitfire you described.”

 

“Don’t I know it.” Wally grins at them, but remains out of Artemis’ swatting range.

 

“I’m glad to finally meet you, Artemis. Wally’s told me all about you and your other friends from high school. Megan, Dick, Kal and Conner? The way Wally tells it, you six sure got into a lot of trouble for a comic book club.”

 

Artemis snorts and mutters. “That’s an understatement.” Mrs. Robertson smiles knowingly at the two.

 

“Well. I won’t take any more of your time. Artemis – take care of this one. He’s an ornery one.”

 

“Don’t worry. I’ll watch out for him.”

 

“Good.” She turns to Wally. “You’re looking thin, dear. Come over later. I have some extra pot roast you two can share with me. I’ll make some cookies too, and we can get some meat on those bones.” She pokes his ribs. “You really ought to eat more, dear.”

 

She turns and heads right back out the door, not allowing either of them a chance to protest. Artemis follows her to the doorway, and watches her return to her own apartment down the hall. Wally comes up behind her and throws his arm over her shoulder.

 

“So, what do you think?

 

“I like this place. We should stay here.”

 

XxXxX

Tuesday:

Central City Animal Shelter

 

“Please?”

 

“No.”

 

“But he’s so cute!”

 

“No.”

 

“But I-“

 

“No.”

 

“C’mon, Babe! I’ll feed him and walk him and he doesn’t have to sleep in the bed with us.”

 

“You and I both know I’m going to be the one doing most of the work.”

 

“Hey! I’m super responsible! I volunteer here all the time, _and_ I help at out the orphanage every weekend.”

 

“And yet I can’t get you to unload the dishwasher.”

 

“That’s because my dishwasher is evil.”

 

“It’s not evil. You just weren’t patient enough to wait for the silverware to cool down after it finished running.”

 

“You’re deflecting me!”

 

“Fine, let’s talk about the real issue here. Nelson’s too old to want to hang out with a puppy. We can’t put him through that.”

 

“You still have Nelson? Where is he? Who’s taking care of him while you’ve been… y’know? Are they giving him enough love?”

 

“Don’t worry, Wally. The Harpers are taking care of him.”

 

“Oh, good, I- wait. You left our dog with Roy and your psycho sister!?!”

XxXxX

Wednesday:

The Watchtower

“Twenty on Artemis.”

 

“Fifty on Green Arrow”

 

“A hundred says they tie.”

 

“One fifty says they murder us for betting on them.”

 

“No bet.”

 

Artemis smirks at the murmured words from the heroes that line the wall of the Watchtower’s largest training room. When she and Wally had invaded his cave (“Told you I knew his passcodes, Wally. And you wanted to knock.”), Oliver had presented her with a bow, a set of arrows, and even a new uniform, but had suggested they compete for her to have the right to keep them. Artemis was more than happy to accept. Somehow, between teleporting up to the Watchtower and actually arriving in the gym, they had picked up a crowd of followers. Seriously, did nobody in the League have anything better to do than watch drama play out and gossip about it?

 

“All right, everybody. Calm down.” As things began to spiral out of control, Black Canary volunteered to referee. Artemis didn’t have a problem with that, and Ollie was more than happy to show off for his sorta-maybe-girlfriend. “This is going to be a good clean competition between _allies,”_ she stresses. “We’ll have three challenges today, winner takes best two out of three. Green Arrow, you get to choose the first challenge.”

 

“Archery. Points for distance, accuracy and movement,” he calls without hesitation. Artemis didn’t expect any less, but she’s still nervous. It’s been too long since she held a bow, and the warm up time they were given earlier wasn’t nearly enough to get back into her game.

 

“All right. There’s going to be two stages to this one. You each get thirty seconds and five arrows to rack up as many points as you can from the middle line. Then you get three shots and unlimited time at the back line to show off your sniping skills. Moving targets are double points. Archers to the line.”

 

Ollie is cool as a cucumber. She’d done enough of these drills under Green Arrow’s tutelage in her teenage years to guess that this version of him practiced this regularly.

 

“Draw!”

 

She takes a breath to calm her nerves and still her fingers. She’s supposed to be Wally’s partner. Artemis, the Archer. She could do this.

**“** Aaaannnd….. Begin!”

 

She flinches when she sees her first shot went wide. Her grip on the bow must have been too tight, and it pulled. She needs to get her head in the game. Ollie’s already gotten two off, both in the bulls-eye of the stationary target in front of him.

 

She fumbles with the second one even as he gets another stationary bulls-eye, and an 18-point hit on one of the swiftly moving targets above them. Painfully aware of the seconds ticking down, she lets her mind drift back, back to before…. She visualizes her old favorite trick shot, and her fingers drift down to brush her remaining arrows. She swiftly nocks and fires, releasing all three arrows simultaneously. They’re not dead center, but they’re close. Ollie’s look of shock is worth it; his final arrow is buried in the wall, aim thrown off by his surprise at her trick.

 

“And… time. Current score’s 48-34, to Green Arrow. Archers, retrieve your arrows, return to the farthest line.”

 

It could be worse. She’s not as far behind as she could be, and Artemis wasn’t really expecting to win the shooting portion anyways. Plus, she’s in the zone now.

 

“Archers to the line. Ready. Fire at will.” Artemis forces herself to relax her stance, letting her eyes follow the moving target she’s chosen. She pictures the Anomaly, a black swirling nothing, the cause of her pain and heartbreak. In her minds eye, she can see herself running it through with her arrows, giving it a permanent end. She releases the bowstring. Then she does it again. And again.

 

Ollie’s eyeing her. They both hit the bulls-eye of the moving targets for all three shots, even if his are closer to the actual center. She can tell he’s raising his eyebrow under the mask. He’s wearing his favorite smirk. She knows what that smirk means.

 

_So that’s how you want to play?_

Bring it on.

 

“First event scores, 108-94, to Green Arrow.”

 

“That was some sweet shooting, girlie, but I think I might need to give you a few more lessons.” Artemis huffs at Green Arrow’s condescension.

 

 “Artemis chooses the second event.” Black Canary continues as if she hadn’t been interrupted.

 

“Swordsmanship would be grossly unfair, so let’s go with hand-to-hand combat.” She says, fixing the bow to her back.

 

“Don’t sound so smug. You’re not going to catch me by surprise like you did the other day.”

 

“Keep telling yourself that, Arrow.” They take their places on the mat.

 

“First one pinned for ten seconds loses. On my mark.”

 

“Whenever you’re ready, sweetheart.”

 

“Alright, but remember, you asked for it.”

 

“Go!”

 

Ollie falls into a defensive stance, and right away she can see three openings. Tch. He really needs to get on Canary’s good side and get some help already.

 

She comes in with a feigned kick to the knee, taking advantage of his too-high guard. He’s forced to step back to avoid it, but because his back foot was turned too far out, this leaves his stance weak. She tries not to give it away when he catches her follow though punch, only to be yanked to the side as she twists her body and brings her other arm around to strike his shoulder instead. As she did the last time, she takes advantage of this kneeing him in the stomach and kicking out his front ankle. He goes down in a heap, and she plants a foot on his neck.

 

“You really make this too easy.”

 

“Second round goes to Artemis,” Black Canary calls out after Ollie’s few struggles to get up fail, and time ticks down. “Green Arrow, choose the third competition.”

 

He’s quiet for a moment, thinking, but finally says, “Agility.”

 

“You sure about that old man?”

 

“Positive, little girl. No way you can keep up with my katas.”

 

“Tch. Try saying that after you’ve seen what I can do.” She spent years training with an aerialist and an Olympic-class gymnast after all.

Black Canary agrees that they can each lead a kata, increasing the difficulty until one or the other of them is unable to complete a move, in accordance with her judgment.

 

Ollie chose the competition, so Artemis leads the first kata; a simple flowing exercise that nevertheless loosens her up.

 

He’s clearly unimpressed. She recognizes the stance he shifts into for his exercise. It’s a faster kata that requires more dexterity than the one she chose. It’s also one of her favorites.

 

Just to show off, she mirrors him as he dives into a roll, her muscles doing an even better job of remembering this kata than her mind. They push out of the roll together, spin and fire off a shot at one of the targets, almost completely in sync. Ollie hit the nine-ring. She only hit the eight.

 

She grits her teeth, ignoring their shots and reminding herself that this set is about agility, not accuracy. When he looks over at her with a smug expression, though, she loses it. She charges at him, enjoying his expression of surprise. At the last moment, she skips around him and jumps against the wall, using it as leverage to jump into a series of back handsprings, rolling the last one into a back flip. Thank you, Nightwing.

 

He doesn’t even try. If anything, he’s trying not to look impressed. When she crosses her arms and tilts her head, inviting him to try, he throws his hands in the air. “Fine! I concede! You’re decent enough meet Arrow standards.”

 

“Thanks for that glowing praise, Ollie.” She rolls her eyes. Suddenly, Wally’s there, throwing his arms around her from behind.

 

“Yay! I knew you could do it! And you get a cool new costume!”

 

“No stealth tech though,” she bemoans.

 

“Hm. I guess. At least it shows your midriff.”

 

She elbows him in the stomach. “You’re incorrigible.”

XxXxX

Thursday:

First National Bank of Keystone City

"And that’s why it keeps coming back, mate." Captain Boomerang says, brandishing his signature weapon toward one of the hostage bank tellers.  
  
"Quit with the puns so we can get out of here, Digger. If we get busted for this, my wife’s going to kill me." Captain Cold admonishes.  
  
"Why the rush? Flash's gone. I can stand here and think up puns as long as I want, and there's no one that can stop me." Sam Scudder rolls his eyes, but opts to continue helping Mirror Master 'liberate' the money in the bank vault rather than continue arguing with the Australian rogue.  
  
"You’re wrong on both counts, Boomer!"  
  
"Flash!" The red blur that had just arrived on the scene is suddenly obscured by the colors of the Trickster on a hugging warpath. "You're alive!"  
  
"Missed you too, Tricks, but I'm back now. We'll play darts, yeah? I'll bring my friend – she has awesome aim – but  right now I'm gonna have to take down you and your buddies though, okay?"  
  
"Aw, Flash! Not again!" The rogue draws back from the hug.  
  
"No, you're right. Not again," a voice emanates from behind the Flash. His reflexes are quick – he wheels around to face the Pied Piper and takes a step back... Only to find himself surrounded by the Top's namesake weapons, and brought to his knees by the high-pitched screech emanating from them.  
  
Wally's vision swims, though he's hyper aware that his rogue's gallery has encircled him, and that they’re closing in on him.  
  
Captain Boomerang sneers, "Hypersonic tops, Mate. Piper and Top put them together. Teamwork's a bitch when you're on the other side of it, eh?"  
  
"Oh, how I do appreciate irony," a voice cuts in from the back corner. Something flies past the rogues, and lands just in front of Wally's knees. The screeching stops with a crackle, and his vision clears enough for him to see the object was one of Artemis's trick arrows.  
  
"Wha-?" Mirror Master starts as he steps out of a mirror, but is cut off with a taser-arrow to the chest.  
  
"Miniature EMP arrows, mate." She smirks at Captain Boomerang's flabbergasted expression.  
  
"Oh yeah, guys. Did I mention I got a new partner?" Wally moves in for a knock-out punch.  
  
"Well, shi-" Is all any of them have time to say.

 

XxXxX

 

Friday:

Somewhere on The Atlantic Ocean

“Just once, I’m going to actually _fly_ to Europe.”

 

“C’mon, Babe! It’s fine! I promise I won’t drop you!”


	14. Interlude- Bart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news, I’m trying not to write any non-canon pairings in this, but I do like bluepulse, so read this however you will. It should be able to go both ways.

"There you are, ese."  
  
When Red Robin had mentioned that Kid Flash dropped off the radar this morning, Jaime had immediately guessed something was up. Guardian tried to assure him that the speedster’s distress beacon hadn't been activated, and that he probably just wanted some quiet time. Jaime knew Mal was probably right, but when he hadn't found his friend in any of his usual hangout spots, he decided to play his hunch. When his aerial sweeps confirmed his guess, the hero quickly found an alley, deactivated his armor, and headed for his disheartened friend.  
  
"S'not like I'm hiding or anything. Just being me," Bart grumbles from his seat on the steps leading up to Artemis’s (not Artemis and Wally’s, not for a while now) flat.  
  
"Right, you moping on a staircase in a random city is 'just being you.'"  
  
"I was out here anyways. I needed to water the plant." Bart says without missing a beat.  
  
"Uh, you know the plant in the window is fake, right?"  
  
"What! That’s not- Are you- gah!" Bart crosses his arms and continues muttering indistinctly at his ruined excuse.  
  
Jaime sits down next to the outraged speedster, and puts his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Why are you really here, Bart?" The younger boy shrugs, but doesn't throw off his friend's comforting arm. "Oracle sent out an update. Artemis checked in. She's fine. Has good news, even."  
  
"Yeah. I heard."  
  
"Why aren't you smiling, then?" Bart immediately flashes him a very bright, very fake grin. "Funny." Jaime says, not amused. The smile drops.  
  
Finally, Bart sighs. "Y'know, in the bad timeline, my grandfather was supposed to die on the day I came back?” Jaime raises his eyebrows at that shocking bit of news. Bart doesn’t often speak truthfully about his past-future, but every time he does, it’s usually bad. “That's why I chose to come back then. We had some leeway with keeping you off-mode, but I thought, as long as I was coming back, might as well save my granddad, get Nathaniel off-mode... Save the word and my family and friends all in one fell swoop."  
  
 He laughs bitterly. "One of the first things I talked about when I got here was how much the Flash had taught my dad, and that's true. It's just that I was talking about Wally. He taught my dad and Aunt Dawn everything he knew, even the stuff he couldn't do himself, like vibrating through solid objects. He… He was more of a hero to them, to me, than anyone! And I killed him.” Bart’s blinking his eyes rapidly, but Jaime can still see them shining with unshed tears.  
  
"He had years left, Jaime! He and Artemis were some of the greatest heroes of the resistance! They figured out how to turn Reach tech against itself! They taught tons of young heroes, kept us safe even as the League fell! They went toe-to-toe with Black Beetle, once! No one else has ever done that! Not to a fully-mature, moded Scarab!” The younger boy shakes his head in disbelief. "More than that, though... They were supposed to have a family; Irey Paula and Jai Oliver West. I didn't just kill my hero, or Artemis' husband. I killed their two little children. Artemis’ whole family; gone because of me!”

 

Jaime exhales slowly at the confession. “Wow, that’s... how long has this been eating at you? Why is it just coming out now?”

 

“…I should have been there for her.”

 

“Whoa! Ese! Let’s back it up a minute! You know why you can’t go with them!” Jaime jumps up in outrage. Bart follows the older boy to his feet, getting up in Jaime’s face as much as he can.

 

“I don’t care if the Anomaly gets me by mistake! I’d deserve it!” It feels so good for Bart to finally say this out loud. He should be shouting it from the rooftops. _Take me! Take me instead! Give us my cousin back!_

“ _Don’t ever say that!”_ Jaime snarls. He’s breathing heavily, his hands shaking as he tries to calm back down.

 

_The threat to the Kid Flash is raising your heart rate. We should eliminate it._ The scarab says in the back of his head. Jaime wants to agree, but can’t, so he says nothing in reply.

 

Bart just stands there looking shocked (not scared, there’s no reason to be scared of Jaime, not anymore). Jaime recovers first, and so he continues, gently, “Bart, I could give you a million reasons why that’s not true, and that it’s a bad idea, and so on. But I think you know all that. So instead I’m just going to remind you how much _that_ would hurt Artemis too.” Jaime tries to meet his friend’s eyes, but Bart has suddenly decided that the ground by his side is incredibly interesting.

 

“Bart?”

 

“It’s not fair!” The boy suddenly wails, sinking to his knees. Jaime follows him down, pulling the crying speedster into a hug. “I killed him and she’s smart so she has to know that, but she’s still so nice to me – she’s like my big sister – and she can’t even move on because she has to keep watching him die. I can’t even help her because the stupid Anomaly gets us confused! Then she disappeared and no one was saying it but everyone was thinking that she was dead, and I can’t let her die. I owe her and Wally too much, and I can never repay those debts, but I should try and right now I can’t even do that, I can’t do anything!”

 

Jaime’s glad for the scarab’s ability to record and play back sound at slower rates; Bart was probably completely unaware of how much his words sped up as they poured from his mouth.

 

“Shh, ese, it’s okay. Nobody blames you – not Barry or Iris or the Wests or Dick or even Artemis. They know it’s not your fault. You’re the only one who still needs to accept that fact.”

 

Jaime continues his stream of comfort, until Bart stops shaking, and the front of Jaime’s hoodie is more than a little damp. Bart sniffles one last time, and rubs at his eye.

 

“Feeling better?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

“Still blaming yourself?”

 

“… A little.” Jaime frowns, but lets it go. At least it’s improvement.

  
They sit together on the stairs for a while longer. Neither makes a move to leave, they just think.

 

“Jaime?” Bart eventually asks.

 

“Yeah, ese?”

 

“You know how all the other universes went on mode after Wally was killed, but ours didn’t?”

**“** Wait, how was being invaded by Apokolips and everyone almost dying _not_ on mode?”

 

“Yeah, but that’s like, villainous on mode, not, like, crazy-League on mode.”

 

“I guess. Yeah.”

 

“Sometimes… I like to pretend that we’re still crash because Wally’s not really dead.” Bart admits. “I mean, theoretically, the high levels of energy Wally’s particles were dissipating could have ripped holes in the space-time continuum instead of just disintegrating him. If certain theories are right, I mean.”

 

“Okay...”

 

“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy. But I just want him to still be out there, y’know? Maybe Artemis will find him, and they’ll stop the Anomaly and she’ll bring him home and everyone will live happily ever after. I like thinking that way.”

 

Bart’s smiling a little at the happy scenarios in his head, and Jaime can’t bear to ruin it.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, maybe.”


	15. Confrontations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thanks to everybody that let me know someone had started plagiarizing this story. It got taken down, but some of the author’s other stolen stuff is still up. :( Crazy though, huh?

“You know, we should stop coming to Paris.” Wally calls, dodging another laser blast.

 

“Baywatch, if we stopped going to cities just because people attacked us there, we would eventually run out of cities.” Artemis back rolls, taking cover behind a stone park bench. “And we can’t give up. We haven’t gotten the Louvre blown up yet. Obviously we’re going to have to come back eventually.”

 

They just wanted to spend one weekend in Paris – without a world crisis. Clearly, this was too much to ask.

 

They had spent the morning touring some of the most famous sites in Paris. Wally had dragged a (supposedly) reluctant Artemis to the Paris Museum of Science (“The biggest Science Museum in Europe! I know you secretly want to…”) and she in turn forced him to walk (“Don’t run! This is a Palace!”) with her through Versailles. They had stopped at a café (well, four separate cafés in succession, for Wally) for lunch when things had gone wrong.

 

It started with a vortex in the sky. Red and black swirled, distorting light and casting and eerie glow across the city. “You know, I’m not even surprised. Is it a problem that I’m not even surprised?” Wally says calmly as they grab their bags and duck into an empty side ally.

 

“Nah. We’re overdue for a Trans-dimensional vortex. Call it now; invading alien army or accidental magical backfire?” Artemis is changing quickly; glad to have a bow back in her hand for this fight.

 

“Mmm. No other similar incidents are being reported yet on League channels. I’m betting an accident.”

 

“That’s cheating. But fine. The Anomaly’s probably making me paranoid, but I’m betting intentional. Loser does the dishes for a week.” They’ve both changed now, and it is Flash who grabs Artemis and zips them to a more favorable (and familiar) battleground; Le Parc du Champ de Mars, at the base of the Eiffel Tour.

 

The… portal? is stabilizing now, and a figure steps through, standing in the sky as if the air were solid ground.

 

“ _Cessez de regarder fixement! Sortez d'ici! Laisse-le_!*” Artemis calls to the few civilians left staring rather than running away. Even as she warns the bystanders off, she readies her bow.

 

The figure has noticed them now, and is flying closer. A hoard of smaller figures follows it from the portal.

 

They can see now that it is some sort of android. A super-powered android.

 

“Are those Ivo’s MONQIs following it?” Artemis questions, as the smaller blurs get closer.

 

“Oh, Conner would love this.” Wally mutters, and Artemis can’t but let out a snort of agreement. Louder, he yells to the robot, “Oi! Robot-Android thing! This is the Flash, of the Justice League. You’re invading a protected planet! Declare your intentions, or we’re going to have to attack you!”

 

For a moment, the robot merely looks at them. Then, in monotone it declares, “I am Amazo. My directive is to eliminate the Flash. Prepare to die.”

 

XxXxX

 

“ _Why_ did you think that was a good idea?” Artemis screams at Flash from where she’s taken cover from the MONQI’s. They’d done a great job of tearing up the park so far, gouging up the earth and tossing heavy objects until the previously open park is littered with obstacles that are, thankfully, more obstructive to their enemies than to the two heroes.

 

“He looked like he needed a hug!” Wally’s zipping between the obstacles, alternatively smashing MONQI’s and hiding from Amazo.

 

“So you tried to make friends with him? He literally _just said_ he was trying to kill you!”

 

“The Amazo we fought here just wanted a family! I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try!”

 

“Wouldn’t hurt? Now we have a flying, evolving android with _superspeed!_ ”

 

“I didn’t say I was right! I’m just explaining what I was thinking! Ah!”

 

The topic of their discussion had finally caught up to the speedster, slamming him into the base of the Eiffel Tower. Artemis immediately leaps from her cover, taking a moment to shoot a flash-bang into the air to buy her enough MONQI-free time to take aim for Amazo. Her explosive arrows don’t seem to do him any damage, but they give Wally a chance to roll away from him, and run, taking down a few MONQI’s as he goes.

 

Amazo turns to face her, so she nocks two more of the arrows Ollie gave her.

 

_‘These are only for an emergency. Use them both together, and make sure you’re far away when you fire them. Like, really far away.’_

_‘What are they?’_

_‘Quantum arrows.’_

“You don’t really believe this tactic will suddenly cease being ineffective,” the android intones, allowing Artemis to take the shot without fear.

 

“I guess I deserve that, since you probably learned sarcasm from me. You can blame Flash for the hubris, though,” she quips, and releases the arrows. They crackle to life in midair, forming an electromagnetic connection strong enough to be visible as they fly towards their target. Amazo only has a moment to look surprised before they sling around him, binding him up with their electromagnetic fields.** They wrap back around him and slam together in a flash of blinding light. Even from this distance, she’s thrown back by the shockwave that emanates from the blast. Luckily, strong arms catch her before she slams into the ground, and she’s carried to cover under a pile of fallen trees.

 

“That was impressive, Babe. What’d it do?”

 

“Not sure. Green Arrow gave them to me, but I’ve never used anything like that before. It better have worked though; those were the strongest arrows I had.”

 

“Erm, that’s kinda unfortunate,” Flash says, peaking over the tree at the new crater where their foe had been. “He’s kinda regenerating.” Artemis mutters a string of curses under her breath, and pulls her quiver off her back to take stock of her arrows.

 

She glances between some of the branches and sees that the android has reassembled itself enough to begin scanning for them again. She also notices the slightly darker red of blood staining her boyfriend’s leg and realizes why he didn’t move in to finish the android or get them out of there while he could. “What happened?” She nods to his leg when he looks down at her.

 

“Some of the MONQI’s got me when I was dodging Amazo,” he admits.

 

“How bad is it?” That, he doesn’t answer, but she sees a twinge of fear in his eyes. “Oh.”

 

“I already tried calling in for help from the League. Only techs are left on the Watchtower. Apparently they had to bring in everyone when a bunch of ‘robot monkeys’ showed up and started interfering with their attack on the Legion.”

 

Artemis closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then opens them, her face serious. She pulls out a League-issued compress to make a quick patch for Wally’s leg then slings her quiver back on. A swarm of MONQI’s has organized and is closing in on them from all sides. They’re out of time.

 

“We’re on our own; there’s no one else to call.” With a last glance at her, Wally darts from their cover, drawing most of the robots off of her. She knows he won’t last long. This more than qualifies as an emergency.

 

“Yeah, there actually is.”

 

XxXxX

 

Conner's bored out of his mind, and that’s putting it politely. He’s a reporter as his cover here (and he is going to murder Clark for that suggestion when they finally get home) and is sitting in a press conference held by someone that he thinks might secretly be a supervillain, with boringness as a super power. That’s the only explanation for how the man can _still_ be droning on. His communicator buzzes, and he’s immediately brought back to full alertness.  
  
Glares from around the room roll off of him as he ducks out of the room with only cursory apologies, sure of what this is.

He only moves more urgently when he sees whose name is on the screen.  
  
XxXxX  
  
The ‘phone's’ screen displays a picture of a smirking blonde girl.  
  
"Nightwing, someone's calling you." It had taken her weeks to learn enough about the mysterious new hero's patrol pattern to ambush him on duty. Then it had taken her far longer than normal to convince the man to let her patrol with him, and then to invite her back to his place. Now he was getting calls because he didn't even turn off his phone before he offered to get them some wine. She’s not giving up on the night yet, though, and says disparagingly, "Some girl named Artemis?"  
  
"What? No!" He dives for the table to check his phone, then immediately begins pulling his utility belt and other weapons back on. She pouts. It had taken her ages to get him to take those off.  
  
"You're leaving? What’s so special about her? Am I not… enough for you?" She makes sure to exaggerate her… ample assets as she leans over the couch to plead with him.  
  
"Sorry, Kory. You're beautiful and all, but she's more important to me," he excuses himself as he leaves.  
  
XxXxX  
  
Kaldur doesn't excuse himself when he leaves. No, courtesy is for when the people you care for most aren't in danger. He simply hurries out of the League debriefing, ignores the confused questions behind him, and pulls out his TD teleportation 'remote.' He syncs it to the location of Artemis's distress call, presses the button, and watches the Watchtower dissolve around him.  
  
XxXxX  
  
M'gann's concern for her oven disappears as a battlefield seems to dissolve into place around her. Her teammates are in various states of materialization around her, but as soon as they're all fully present she pulls them into the mind link. She spots Artemis taking cover in under some trees and pulls their final teammates onto the mindlink. This world's Flash darts around the Eiffel tower trying to avoid a hoard of little robots.

_Artemis, report!_  Kaldur takes immediate control of the situation.

_It's not good. The Anomaly's sent us an Amazo and a whole bunch of MONQI's, and is keeping this League too busy for back up. I've already used my most powerful arrows, and Wally's been hit, so he's not exactly at top speed_. The Team mentally flinches when Artemis uses Wally's name (it's the Flash, never Wally, when they talk about the people they're protecting), but Artemis doesn't respond to the implicit accusation that she's been emotionally compromised again. Instead, she just adds candidly,  _Also, Amazo has superspeed. Try not to let him see you, we really don't need him any more powerful_.

Artemis and Kaldur continue to confer even as the four newly arrived heroes leap into the battle.

XxXxX

Nightwing immediately heads for Flash's position; he needn't worry about Amazo seeing him and copying his powers like the others. As he approaches the iconic structure, he throws a few well-placed batarangs, destroying several MONQI'S and buying the Flash a little bit of breathing room. Flash promptly uses that room to backpedal away from him in shock.

"Holy cow! Where did you come from?" Dick internally frowns. He had assumed that if Artemis was working with this dimension's Flash that she at least had the courtesy to brief him on the situation. An uneasy feeling forms in his belly; she wasn't trying to woo Wally, without the baggage of his dead counterpart this time, was she?

"Relax, Flash. We're friends of Tigress's. I'm Nightwing, that's-"

"Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad. Yeah, I know, I'm-“

"Watch out!" Dick cries, shoving the Flash out of the way of another attack. Damn. It looks like Amazo was finally back from wherever it was he had retreated while he finished regenerating.

"Thanks, I was trying to say that I'm-"

"Fight now, talk later!" Dick calls, whipping out his escrima sticks to take on a trio of MONQI's that are tag-teaming them with Amazo.

_Holy similarities, Batman,_  he thinks.  _Do all Wally's have to have such big mouths?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Stop staring! Get out of here! Now!
> 
> **This is complete BS, but I don’t know what the Quantum Arrows ‘technically’ do, or how else to describe it.
> 
> AN: I’m so evil. See you guys next week! *Hides from the mob*


	16. Realizations

M’gann surveys the battlefield from her hiding spot amongst the beams of the Eiffel tower. She had camouflaged herself and followed Nightwing from above as Dick moved towards the Flash’s position, which turned out to be lucky for him when she warned him of Amazo’s approach. Now though, she can only discreetly eliminate MONQI’s as the heroes below her attempt to hold their own against the super-powered android.

 

She mentally nudges the other heroes, filtering her vision into theirs so they can see Nightwing and Flash’s predicament. _“Guys, they can’t hold on much longer. We need to make a move now.”_

 

 _“We know, but we’re pinned here unless we can take care of Amazo. Otherwise we’ll just make him stronger,”_ Conner reminds her from where he and Kaldur are hiding with Artemis.

 

 _“Wait, we don’t have to take care of Amazo, just Amazo’s vision!”_ Dick’s ‘voice’ is triumphant even as he’s forced to block a set of super-fast punches from Amazo. Kaldur can’t help but smile; Dick always gets excitable when fighting alongside a Wally. M’gann mentally slams two more MONQI’s together, giving Flash a chance to accelerate and body-check Amazo away from their friend.

 

“ _Of course!’_ Artemis gestures to one of her remaining arrows. _‘I’ve got just the thing.”_

Kaldur nods to her. “ _Do it. Superboy and I will cover you.”_

With that, Artemis rolls from behind their cover, and heads closer to the tower. She ignores the robots that flock towards her as she goes, trusting her teammates to have her back. Sure enough, she sees the pests being sliced apart by water or taken down by thrown rocks out of the corners of her eyes. She does note that Conner’s aim has gotten much better since she and Dick started him on their training regime; several MONQI’s are felled when pebbles hit dead-on the small weak points at their necks.

 

As she approaches, Dick throws down several smoke bombs and pulls Wally out of the way of her shot, not risking the Flash using his super-speed and blowing away the smoke. M’gann filters Conner’s view into her own, allowing her to pinpoint the android with his infrared vision. For one brief heartbeat of a moment, she has a perfect, unblockable shot at his face. She takes it.

 

The arrow strikes true, and she watches their android foe falter as the smoke clears.

 

“ _Asterous shot, ‘Missy. Glad to see you haven’t lost your moves with the bow, even after all this time.”_

_“Can it, Troll Wonder. He’s not down yet.”_ Her warning was meant to be cautionary, but even as she makes the quip, she sees the android’s beginning to recover. The arrow she had sent into its face released foam that reacts with nitrogen, hardening quickly upon exposure to air. The now rock-solid foam coated his face, and should have eliminated his copying ability from the equation. Instead, however, she watches as the android’s body seems to bubble.

 

“ _He’s adapting to it! Pull back!”_ Kaldur orders too late. Amazo morphs, his body momentarily adopting the same shade of green as the foam, and he grimaces, the foam cracking off of his face in the process. He must have scanned its properties, taken its hardness for his own advantage even as he exploits its brittleness.

 

The android seems to grimace. “New Secondary Objective: Eliminate the allies of the Flash.” 

 

Wally watches in slow motion as the android lunges for the love of his life.

 

“Artemis!” He doesn’t know who screamed – maybe him, but he’s a bit busy running, so maybe it was someone on the Team. He does know that he’s gaining on Amazo, pulling out stops he didn’t know he had. Time slows down as he catches the robot, moves _through_ its outstretched arms, and pulls his girlfriend out of the thing’s reach. He skids to a stop at Dick’s side, and something presses play for the world around him.

 

“Didn’t see… that one coming... punk.” He winces as the pain in his leg flares with the return of time. Whatever his super-healing had done for the injury, he just undid it with that move, possibly even tearing a few extra muscles apart while he was at it.

 

Artemis catches him as he starts to sink to the ground, helping him take the weight off his leg. Nightwing tosses her something; then takes a defensive stance between them and the now-confused robot. “Get another compress on that wound. We’re going to need him again.”

 

XxXxX

 

M’gann watches in horror as the battle unfolds below her. She’s managed to create a sort of telekinetic bubble, keeping the MONQI’s within Kaldur and Conner’s range while the other three take on the bigger threat. When the android turns from his failed attack on Artemis to make a move on all three at once, she knows there’s no way they can block it with the Flash down for the count. They _will_ die if he makes it to them, and she won’t let that happen.

 

She lurches towards the android, pulling him away from the other heroes with all of her telekinetic strength. She doesn’t realize she dropped her camouflage to do so until a new voice rings in her head.

 

 _‘That was a mistake._ ’ A squeezing pressure wraps around her body and mind, and she struggles to respond, struggles even to breathe. She can feel the others in her mind, trying to help her strengthen her mental walls even as Amazo hammers at them at rapid-fire speed. Finally, her concentration breaks, and Amazo uses that flicker of lost focus to overwhelm her telekinesis and toss her towards the ground.

 

A limping red blur catches her at the last moment, saving her from serious injury. In the distance, she sees Dick throwing explosive batarangs at the robot, temporarily overwhelming it with its newly-acquired weakness, while Artemis forgoes her bow to pull out a sword from the sheathe attached to her quiver.

 

“Dang. That was badass, Megalicious,” a voice in her ear murmurs as Flash stands her up. It’s so familiar that she mentally reaches out to him out of reflex. It takes her a moment to comprehend that this shouldn’t be _so_ familiar, that those shouldn’t be _her_ tracks etched into his mind. It’s not possible, but it is, she can see the story plain as day in his secondary thought processes. Without thinking, she wraps around his mind, confirming the truth with every twist of memory, every familiar scar. In her shock, she calls out.

 

“ _Wally?!?!”_

 

XxXxX

 

“ _Wally?!?!”_ Dick’s a good soldier; he’s been doing this too long to be distracted from the fight by M’gann’s mental cry. At least, until the wave of _sorrowjoyshockconfusiondisbelief_ that follows washes over him and he realizes what happened.

 

No.

 

It’s not possible.

 

But it is, because M’gann says so, because she’s letting them _feel_ how possible it is.

 

Wally’s alive.

 

He’s alive, and he’s _here._

Even without M’gann’s powers, he can feel how the link feels better, more _whole_ than it has in years.

 

Then M’gann pulls Wally into the link all the way and he can feel his best friend in the back of his mind. Their collective thoughts speed up as they have the advantage of speedster processing back on their side, and everyone can take a minute (millisecond) to understand what’s happening.

 

“ _You’re really alive.”_ He thinks, before he realizes he just stopped his movements mid-block. Amazo takes advantage of his fumble.

 

Dick knows a brief instant of pain, then darkness.

 

XxXxX

Conner has always been the best at dealing with surprises like these. Maybe it’s Cadmus programming, maybe it’s the Luthor genes, but Conner’s more than able to roll with life’s newest punch. It’s certainly not the strangest thing that’s happened to them, and for once it’s at least a _good_ surprise.

So when he sees Dick crumple beneath Amazo’s blow, he’s the first to jump into action. Kaldur freezes for the first time that Conner’s ever seen, M’gann’s still trying to soothe the reverberations upsetting the mental link, Wally’s trying to get to his friend, but all the speed in the world can’t compensate for a bum leg, and Artemis is just trying to survive the onslaught of Amazo’s newly focused attacks. Conner leaps from their hiding place, landing between Amazo and Artemis in only two bounds. He catches the Android’s punch, twists the thing’s arm, and slams it into the ground.

“ _Don’t_ touch my friends.” He hisses at the android.

“Analysis complete.” He has only a second to berate himself for being seen when he feels himself telekinetically lifted from Amazo’s back, then punched into the ground with his own strength. Now _he’s_ pinned by M’gann’s powers, and a metallic foot is set on his windpipe. It presses down.

He’s saved from a crushed windpipe by a wall of water that washes over them, pushing the android back. Kaldur had reached them.

“ _Miss Martian, how is Nightwing?”_

 

“ _He’s fine, the hit just knocked him unconscious_!”

 

“ _Superboy, Flash, delay Amazo with me! Artemis, cover us from the remaining MONQI’s! Miss Martian, wake Nightwing up, and make sure he’s not concussed. It’s going to take all of us for this to work_!”

 

The four heroes immediately follow their leader’s orders, easily sinking back into the roles of their childhood.

 

XxXxX

 

Dick’s return to consciousness is the rough, blurry awakening he has learned to associate with M’gann forcing him back to consciousness. The advantage of this method is that he’s able to get right back into the battle. The disadvantage of it is that his memories of the last few moments before he was knocked out swirl fuzzily around his mind before settling in a confusing jumble of thought. It takes him a minute to put said thoughts in order enough to remember what is happening.

 

_“Wally?”_

_“Yeah, Bro?”_

It’s true, then.  Dick has nothing to say but, “ _You really are alive.”_

_“That’s what Shayera tells me every time I play dead on monitor duty.”_

How _dare_ he be so flippant about this. _“Oh, I would be more than happy to rectify that situation, you complete_ jerk.”

 

“ _Sheesh. For a bunch of people working so hard to save me, you all sure seem to like threatening my life. I’m feeling the love, really.”_

The world around Dick has finally stopped spinning, so M’gann helps him to his feet. She puts lets him put his arm over her shoulders to steady him, but her attention has returned to the battle; based on what Dick can feel of her focus, he guesses Amazo’s battering against her mental shields. _“What can I say? We’re a group of people that run around in tights breaking the laws of nature to fight bad guys in theme costumes. Logic doesn’t exactly factor in here.”_

_“I guess I can see that. I mean; you are the guy who wanted to run around in scaly panties for his first costume…”_

_“It was a leotard! And you said you’d never tell anyone if I showed you my first costume designs!”_

After a fourth blocked punch sends him staggering, Conner’s patience for his friends’ teasing wears thin. _“As much as I missed your… delightful … banter, maybe we should deal with the robot that’s trying to kill you first?”_

They’re back at it immediately. _“Wow, Conner. That was like, incredibly scathing, in an understated sort of way. When did you get so snarky?”_

_“You would not_ believe _some of the things that have happened while you weren’t around.”_

_“Try me.”_ The rest of the team can’t help but mentally roll their eyes. Wally has _no_ idea…

_“B found out he had a kid with Talia al Ghul.”_

_“… I am willing to concede a point to Nightwing.”_

_“Will you two focus?”_ Artemis snaps, just like old times, as she takes down another MONQI that came into range of her throwing knives.

 

“ _Yes ma’am.”_ Wally mentally snaps to attention.

 

Dick immediately follows suit. “ _Sorry, ma’am.”_

_“Although we know you secretly think our epic bromance is adorable.”_ Wally can’t help but add.

 

Artemis mentally groans.

 

At that moment, Amazo raises a vortex of water, throwing back his attackers.

 

 _“I was hoping he wouldn’t figure out how to do that.”_ Kaldur admits as he sits up form where he was thrown.

 

 _“The good news is, he let up on his mental attack to do that so I’ve gotten the link secure again,”_ M’gann says to them. _“Good job annoying him enough to back off guys.”_

_“Is that what we were doing?”_

Dick mentally shrugs at Wally’s query. _“Just go with it.”_

_“I think I’ve gotten the last of the MONQI’s.”_ Artemis adds as she takes down the last two with a spinning slice from her sword. _“At least, nothing’s flying at me any more, so…”_

_“All we have to do is finish off the big guy then. Got anything for that? Artemis? Nightwing?”_ Conner hopefully questions his teammates.

_“I’ve got an inhibitor collar programmed to knock out all of your powers, among other things.”_ Dick says casually.

_“…Why?”_

_“Bat Paranoia,”_ Wally answers as Dick says _, “In case anyone from the Team or League goes rogue again.”_

_“Either way, it’s convenient for us. How do we get it on him?”_

_“With the magic of friendship?”_ Wally suggests.

_“Oh my God, they have that here too?”_

_“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, ‘Missy.”_

_“You guys are just jealous because we’re twenty percent cooler than you.”_ Wally adds to Dick’s comment.

_“Regardless of preferences in entertainment, Wally does have a point.”_ As always, Kaldur brings them back in. _“Our strength has always been in our teamwork. After the first couple of months, at least.”_

_“Kaldur just made a joke! Today is truly a day of miracles!”_

With Wally’s last quip, the six plan quickly. They’ve worked together long enough that it’s amazingly easy to fall back into the swing of things, now that they have a clear objective.

 

“ _Yeah… that should work.”_

 

XxXxX

 

Nightwing is the current focus of Amazo’s wrath.

 

He scrambles back from the android, dropping explosives as he goes. He’s counting on his teammates to be – ah, right on time. Wally swings around, sliding into the robot’s legs as Conner tackles it from behind. It pitches forward into Dick’s mine trap, suffering concussive backlash as Conner pins him.

 

Wally can’t resist a quip. “ _Looks like we got here just in time. Makes us, like, big damn heroes.”_

 

“ _A Firefly reference? Seriously? You dork_!”

 

“ _Look who recognized it_.”

 

“ _Banter later. The enemy is not yet neutralized,”_ Kaldur interrupts them as he raises a water shield around Amazo and Conner. M’gann telekinetically reinforces it, preventing the android from simply countering Kaldur with his own, stolen abilities.

_“Right, we’re a go.”_ Wally smirks as Dick returns to his professional voice. Bracing himself, he grabs his friend’s arm and leg and begins spinning.

Inside the water barrier, Conner continues his assault on Amazo. The android has the advantage of speed, but Conner’s spent years training under Black Canary. They’re evenly matched. Conner taunts, “Looks like we’re at an impasse here. Can’t fulfill your objective when you’re trapped.”

 

“You forget I have copied other abilities.” Amazo replies, taking off and hovering above the water barrier.

 

Artemis is ready when the android rises above Kaldur and M’gann’s wall. She fires her last three arrows at Amazo; all flash-bangs. The android is clearly unimpressed.

 

“Was that supposed to harm me?”

 

“Nope. Distract you.” She says. The android starts to turn as he processes this statement, but it’s too late. Wally had gotten up to speed with his rotation, and has summarily launched Dick at he robot with the centripetal force of his movements. The aerialist has no trouble twisting mid-air and slinging an inhibitor collar around the android’s neck. He laughs, cackling in mirth at the android’s expression as they both fall.

 

M’gann catches him in her arms, joining his laughter as Amazo crashes into the earth. Kaldur envelops the android in a water bubble, then shoots electricity into it. The robot thrashes as its circuitry fries. Finally, he lets the spell go.

 

“ _Now_ you may banter.”

 

XxXxX

 

“In case anyone wasn’t sure, I still hate monkeys.” Conner says, purposefully stomping on some MONQI remains as he walks over to where Wally is. He accepts Conner’s outstretched hand to stand up and suddenly finds himself in a headlock. “ _Don’t_ do that to us again.”

 

“Jeez! Is everyone going to be on my case? I promise, Artemis already covered this topic.”

 

“Perhaps if you did not worry us so, there would be no need for chastisement.” Their leader approaches the two wrestling heroes.

 

“Kaldur, you are such a hypocrite.” Aqualad simply smirks in reply, green-gray eyes twinkling with suppressed mirth. Suddenly, Wally can’t resist. He ducks Conner’s stranglehold, zips up to his friend, and pulls him into a tight hug. “Missed you guys.” He murmurs, eyes shut.

 

“And we you, my friend.”

 

Suddenly, Kaldur stiffens, and Wally finds himself being shoved down as his friend turns them around, putting his own body between Wally and whatever had been behind him. Wally’s eyes pop open and he watches in slow motion as a blast that must have been meant for him tears through his friend instead. Kaldur’s eyes go wide, his face a mask of shock and pain. Then Wally’s world goes red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And still I’m a terrible person. 
> 
> Also, I had this plunny someone should write (and let me know if you do!).
> 
> So, as per several theories, Wally actually got sent forward into the future after The-Episode-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named. When he pops out though, it’s nothing like what he expected. Without him, the League went rogue a la ‘A Better World.’ They’re thrilled to have him back, of course, even if they have to keep him on lock down and in an inhibitor collar until he ‘understands how things have to be now.’ I kinda feel like it should be the senior members of the Team who are in charge, rather than the League as we know it, but eh, details.  
> I just really have this strong image of Wally being sort of a ‘kept man’ to the earth’s emperors and empresses as he tries to remind them of the way things used to be (and hey, if they convince him their way is better, that works too). I can just totally see him trying to hang with the ‘common people’ and them being like this is Artemis’ consort/Nightwing’s best friend etc. Anyone ever read those stories about Darth Vader finding Padme alive and or finding Luke younger and them bringing him back to the good side? Sorta like that.


	17. Operation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just assume any medical stuff in here is made up. I did look up a lot of this stuff, but I have no idea how medicine really works, or if some of this stuff is more or less lethal than I make it out to be. Just put it down to Atlantean physiology and superhero science, okay?

Wally is covered in Kaldur’s blood.

 

Wally is covered in Kaldur’s blood because he messed up.

 

Wally is covered in Kaldur’s blood because he messed up, because he was _too slow,_ because he might as well be a thirteen-year-old screw-up on his first mission with another sidekick for all the training he’s showing right now.

 

“ _Kaldur!_ ” Four minds and voices call, and Wally realizes that he’s thinking too fast, because Kaldur hasn’t even hit the ground…

 

Wally dives forward to catch his friend before that can happen. Artemis lets loose an arrow before the rest of them can even think, ripping through the MONQI that had played dead and taken the cheap shot that felled their leader. Nightwing is at his side, putting pressure on the wound even as he lays his friend down.

 

“Damn. Penetrated the Kidneys. Nicked his renal artery.” Nightwing diagnoses.

 

“That’s a major artery! He’ll bleed out!” Conner adds as he and M’gann hurry over. Artemis has her back to them, surveying the landscape for other still-active bots, ready to send her warning through the mind-link.

 

Conner’s words are what Wally needs to kick his brain back into gear. “Right. Flash to Watchtower! I need an emergency teleport and medical aid, stat!”

 

“ _I’m sorry, Flash! We’re in the process of bringing up the other teams! We’re mid-transfer, and can’t stop now!_ _It’s gonna be at least a few more minutes!”_ Kaldur lets out a groan, face pale and eyes unfocused with pain. M’gann puts her hand on his brow, trying to focus and help him block out the pain.

“He doesn’t have that long!” Conner insists, overhearing Wally’s comm.

 

“Are you kidding me?!?” Wally yells at Conner, then turns back to his comm. “Just get us up there ASAP, and have medical standing by!” He angrily kills the line.

 

“This artery has to be closed.” Nightwing murmurs urgently, wrist deep in Kaldur’s wound trying to pinch the artery shut. “Flash can’t get him anywhere fast with that leg. We’re just going to have to do it ourselves.”

 

“…I still have some Shields,” Conner admits. “I can cauterize the wound with heat vision, but it’ll be risky. He’d have to be absolutely still.” They all watch Kaldur’s body jerk in shock and pain.

 

“Right. Miss M can you-” Nightwing starts.

 

“I’m attempting to pull him into my mind now. I need someone to anchor me…”

 

“I’ve got you, Megs.” Artemis is back from surveying the remaining bots. She stands behind M’gann and puts her hands on the kneeling girl’s shoulders. “Just like old times.” The situation is too dire for them to share even a weak smile at the bad quip. The three go still, M’gann’s eyes aglow.

 

Wally has a thought. “Wait a second.” He dashes back to the nearest café, raiding their kitchen for a few supplies and swinging by a nearby bakery on his way back to the Park, all in just a few seconds. “We better get some disinfectant in there. A staff infection in his Kidneys is just as likely to kill him as bleeding out.” He dumps salt from the shaker on the café table into an unopened water bottle and adds some vinegar he found in the back room. A few milliseconds of super-speed shaking later, and he pours some of his homemade antiseptic into the wound.

 

“Good thinking, KF.” Nightwing says absentmindedly as he watches Conner put a Shield on his arm. The Kryptonian shudders as he reigns in the drug-induced rage that comes with the suppression of his human DNA. “Ready Superboy? You’re going to have to do this as soon as I move my hands…” With one last breath, the clone nods.

 

And then everything moves quickly. Dick moves his hands, and Conner’s eyes glow red. Those beams are hot enough to melt steel; it only takes half a moment burn soft flash to itself. Conner slams his eyes shut and tears the Shield from his arm. He stumbles back, and Wally rushes forward again. He dabs a little of the honey he grabbed form the bakery onto the wound ( _natural antiseptic properties, alleviates swelling, promotes healing,_ he mentally recites) and then backs off to let Nightwing wrap it with a compress. That’s all they can do for the moment.

 

Three of them are useless. Two of them are unconscious. One of them is dying.

 

Wally wants to scream in frustration ( _How dare you take my family from me! I just got them back!),_ but he doesn’t know who to blame. Conner seems to have compromised and screams out wordless anger. Even Dick’s ‘traught’ mask is slipping under the emotional strain they’ve faced today.

 

They’re saved by a voice in Wally’s head.

 

“ _Flash, this is Watchtower. Zeta platforms are clear. Prepare for emergency teleportation. We have medics standing by.”_

 

“Do it!”

 

And suddenly they’re in the Watchtower. His friends are stepping back, letting the medical personnel get to their injured teammates.

 

“Not me, him!” Wally insists when one of the medics tries to check him out. He absently notices dozens of worse-for-wear heroes loitering in the bay, watching the drama play out. Honestly, you think they’d be used to him showing up with bloodstained strangers by this point. It’s becoming a regular occurrence.

 

By the time he finally convinces the medic that _Yes, I’m fine,_ and _No, this isn’t my blood,_ and _He’stheonedyinghelphimnowdammit!_ he notices that Dick is embracing Artemis, holding her tight as she comes back to awareness, dragging M’gann with her. Conner catches the telepath as she struggles to come back to herself. Kaldur groans as he is allowed to return awareness to his body, but one of the many things the medics have shot into his arms should have started numbing the pain by now.

 

Wally doesn’t realize that he’s been following the stretcher – that they had even left the main bay at all – until a nurse bars them from following the procession into the operating room.

 

“But he needs us!” M’gann insists, looking like she’s willing to fight her way in. “Can’t you feel it?”

 

“It’s okay Megs.” Conner wraps his arms around her from behind. “We’re here for him. We’re not going anywhere. Just tell us what we need to do.”

 

“No! We all just got back together! We can't leave him now.” She murmurs, looking heartbroken. “We have to go in there with him; I don’t know what he’ll do if he’s left in his mind alone.” They don’t need to be told twice. Conner turns and sits against the wall of the operating room, pulling M’gann down with him. Wally takes this as an invitation to lay down and put his head in her lap; she forces a smile and lets him even as she leans back against Conner’s chest. Artemis takes the hint and sits down next to her earth-sister. She takes the girl’s hand in her own, and throws her legs over her boyfriend’s torso with a wry grin. Dick actually chuckles at that, lifting Wally’s legs to slide under them and lean against Artemis.

 

Wally’s suddenly reminded of their teenage years, when they were still trying to get along as a team. How they could all pile onto a couch for a movie and just enjoy each other’s company. The feeling would be familiar, comforting, if it weren’t for the obvious absence of their leader. That gaping hole is a reminder of what’s at stake here.

 

They close their eyes, and M’gann pulls them in.

 

XxXxX

~~~~  
"Where are we?"  
  
The world M'gann has pulled them into is like nothing Wally has ever seen. It looks like it's been patched together by an imaginative 5-year old. Colorful cloth is draped across the sky, its brightness dripping into huge singing flowers that could be seen scattered across the landscape. There seems to be no real organization; gothic skyscrapers stand next to giant trees stand next to the Eiffel Tower. Some areas are dark, some bright. In some areas it’s raining, others snowing. Mount Justice can be seen in the distance; standing as proudly as the day they first moved in, all those years ago. Two Watchtowers orbit circus-tent sky.  
  
To Wally, it’s something like being in a dream; nothing makes any sort of sense, and yet it all feels right.  
  
"This is our shared mindscape."  
  
Dick wanders over to one of the buildings that are near them and an oven door appears in the side of the wall. He pulls it open, and the smell of burnt cookies wafts out. "We are some strange people."  
  
"First off, I thought we'd established that. Secondly, this place is totally cool!" Wally examines a table that sits in the middle of the street in front of them. Chemicals are laid out in various beakers around a sheaf of scattered papers with mad scribbling and doodles of lightning bolts on them.  
  
"To be fair, it's very unusual to bring six separate minds together like this, and it's never been done with non-Martians. Our minds are a little confused as to how to integrate, but they're figuring it out. It's kind of the way your mind makes a conscious story out of a dream even though there's no real story line when you're actually asleep,"  
  
"Why didn't this happen when you and I were fixing Kaldur's mind?" Artemis asks as she marvels at the world around her. "That time, we were in Atlantis; neither of our minds seemed to have an influence on the landscape."  
  
"That's because we were trying to fix Kaldur's mind. Right now, he needs to feel us, so I sort of... pulled us in a different way. I really wasn't sure it could be done."  
  
"That still doesn't explain why there isn't more... water."  
  
M'gann shrugs. "Sometimes, people's mindscapes change."  
  
Conner has joined Dick in poking at the oven. This time when they open it, unburnt cookies pour out and they're force to jump back from the hot, gooey goodness. Conner stares at the desserts for a moment, before turning back to the rest of his team. "So what do we do now?"  
  
"We have to find Kaldur's mental representation of himself."  
  
"Okay... So search patterns, or....?"  
  
M'gann shakes her head. "No. He'll be closest to the ‘center’ of his own mindscape. You can see how our minds are integrated, but each still have significant features – the Watchtowers, the Eiffel Tower, the Wayne Enterprises building…We can probably narrow down where that is if we figure out what stuff belongs to our own mindscapes."  
  
"Oh, I get it, Megs. Like, this science stuff is probably me, the random kitchen stuff everywhere is probably you…"  
  
Conner coughs into his hand, a habit he must have picked up from someone because Kryptonians don't get sick. "Actually, uh, I think the kitchen stuff is mine." They all give him questioning looks. "A lot of my best memories are in kitchens, okay? At the cave, at Ma and Pa's house, at the manor... The moon up there with the Watchtowers is probably mine too."  
  
"That makes sense." M'gann agrees. "I think those trees over there are mine- they look like some that grow on mars. The animals under them are sort of like the ibexes from Marie's animal reserve too."  
  
"Well the big top and the Gotham architecture are both definitely mine." Dick says confidently.  
  
"Well, that Watchtower is from this universe. It's where we - me and the other founders, I mean - became close. So it and all this stuff from when I made recreated the Flash experiment must be me."  
  
"I guess the Eiffel tower's me then? And maybe Mount Justice? That's where I first met my family after all..."  
  
"Aw, Arty. You going all sentimental on us?"  
  
"Can it, Boy Wonder, or I'm going to make sure you are not feeling the aster." Artemis shakes a threatening fist at Dick.  
  
"Ah! Wally! Save me from your scary girlfriend." He darts behind his best friend’s back, only for Wally to jump out of the way.  
  
"Dude! I am not touching that fight with a ten-foot, chromium-coated pole!"  
  
"Well I think it's sweet." M'gann moves to hug her earth-sister. "I feel the same way."  
  
"Mt. Justice could be any of us, really." Conner murmurs quietly. No one speaks, but there's an air of silent agreement between the five.

  
"All right then. That's where we'll head first."  
 ~~  
~~XxXxX ~~~~  
  
They make their way steadily towards the mountain in the distance. Wally's thrilled to realize all of their powers still work.  
  
"Why wouldn't they?”  
  
"Haven't you ever watched movies where people have to go into dream worlds? Their powers never work there!"  
  
"If you say so."  
  
Wally runs, of course, carrying Artemis with him as they dodge between the trees and buildings. Dick swings and M'gann flies above them. Conner leaps, as he always has, but he’s learned enough control that Wally isn’t tripped up by sudden earth shakes when he lands. They're almost to the mountain, and have thus far encountered no real resistance. Wally doesn’t like it.

 

"I feel like this is too easy. Shouldn't we, like, have to fight off Kaldur's seven evil exes or something?"  
  
"You think Kaldur has seven exes?" Conner asks as he lands

 

M’gann adds, "And that he'd ever date someone that's evil?"

 

“You’re right.” Wally concedes. “He’d just pretend to go evil himself.”

 

Dick chuckles from above, “Touché.”

 

“Guys, can we just agree not to jinx it?” Artemis grumbles in Wally’s arms. He kisses her cheek in a show of support. The archer been unhappy since they ran by a Wonderland garden earlier; Artemis’ recognition of the red-painted flowers prompted her mind to shift her outfit to an Alice-esque dress. On top of that, the Queen of Hearts, wearing a hockey mask, started to order her execution before the tyrant was attacked by an ephemeral Cheshire Cat. Artemis refused to let anyone comment on the incident or its implications, instead trying to focus on imagining her costume back on.

 

“She’s right, guys. Although I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about physical threats. This is a time of emotional upheaval for all of us, and our minds are going to be reflecting that. For better or for worse,” M’gann explains as they approach the mountain’s base.

 

The ‘secret’ entrance opens smoothly, allowing them to walk inside, just like old times. On their way up to the main section of the cave, they pass the Bioship, the Batmobile, the Supercycle, and a red van with lightning bolts on its side that Wally insists they hurry past with no explanation. When they finally step into their old living room – the site of so many movies, board games, and pillow fights back in the day – they stop, silent.

 

M’gann moves first, drawn to the kitchen; unquestionably her domain in this mountain, no matter the changes to the team roster.  She can’t help but examine the spread of holiday dishes on display. “No matter what was going on, everyone _always_ made it for at least part of Thanksgiving dinner every year. I loved that. Everyone was here together, and every year we tried new dishes because there were always new team members with new cultures to include.”

 

“Definitely the best day of the year, in my book.” Wally agrees. “Not to mention the best food I’ve ever had, Megalicious. Uh, no offense Babe.” Artemis rolls her eyes at her Boyfriend’s placations; she’ll be the first to admit M’gann rules in the gastronomic arena.

 

“I used to spend hours in here, mesmerized by static on the T.V.” Conner says fondly. “It was one of the first things that helped me focus my super-senses. Plus then I was in the way of everything, and you guys always had to tease me when you came through. I was always really happy to have you guys acknowledge me.”

 

Wally zips off to the side, into their training room. “Remember when Dick hacked the training equipment to act like a video game? Giving us points for combos and stuff? Black Canary was so impressed she didn’t even make us change it back.”

 

They laugh, and Dick gestures to the ceiling. “Remember how we used to come up with elaborate plots to distract Red Tornado so we could sneak into his rooms? We always left sticky notes on his stuff with memes.”

 

“I loved doing that!” Wally agrees exuberantly. “He was always so confused! Especially that time we left him all those Mother’s day cards.”

 

Artemis joins in the fun now. “I remember that! It was like, six months after we got him back from the Reds! We forced him to sit down and humor us with breakfast in bed, and with not having to do chores or respond to the League comm all day!”

 

“Batman was so ticked when he found out why we dropped off the radar all day!”

 

“Yeah, but Kaldur stayed cool as a cucumber and convinced him to let us all off without punishment.” The team sobers at the reminder of their wounded comrade. They had been so overjoyed to return to their shared home that they had forgotten why they were here in the first place.

 

“I’ll look downstairs.” Wally immediately offers, and zips down to check out the largest, most confusing level of the cave.

 

“I’ll get the personal rooms.”

 

“I’ll check out the training rooms.”

 

They quickly peel of in different directions, determined to search every nook and cranny of the cave for their injured friend. They instinctively return to the main room as their searches turn up empty.

 

“Nothing downstairs, and _nothing_ in the grotto.”

 

“What do you mean?” Artemis asks as Wally comes back upstairs.

 

“I mean there aren’t any memorials down there. Just, like, rocks and stuff.”

 

“That jives with what I found in Kaldur’s room.” Nightwing tosses something onto the counter as he strides in. It’s a photo of the team, but not one that they ever took in real life. In it are 32 smiling faces; everyone who had ever been a part of the team, together, happy and alive, as they never had been in real life. Kaldur is in the center of it, the five of them circled around him.

 

“This isn’t good, is it?” ~~~~

M’gann bites her lip worriedly. “No, it’s not.”

 

“Where else is there to look?” Conner puts his hand on M’gann’s in a show of comfort.

 

“The Watchtower.”

 

“Think the Zeta’s will get us there? Or is that one of the things that won’t work in our minds?” Artemis pokes at the computer that controls the Zeta platforms.

 

“It should, as long as the mindscape connects it to the right Watchtower.” M’gann confirms.

 

“That’s easy,” Wally says, “there’s tech over there that matches this world’s teleportation platforms. I’d bet good food that they connect to my Watchtower, and that the zeta tubes connect to ours.”

 

“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s do this.” Nightwing squares his shoulders, and steps into the transporter.

 

Nobody hesitates to follow suit.

~~~~  
XxXxX  
  
They find Kaldur in the main atrium, sitting on a stone bench in the center of the hero's memorial. He is focused on the hologram in front of him and doesn't react as the team approaches.  
  
As they get closer, Wally notices his costume has shifted; he's dressed as Kid Flash again. A glance at Artemis shows that the dress is finally gone too; she's back in her old costume from their time on the team. Artemis’ memorial hologram stands proudly next to his own. M'gann, Dick and Conner step back respectfully as they step up onto their respective plates, pulled by some invisible instinct that this is what they're supposed to do.  
  
Immediately, the memorial flickers. Artemis and Wally's hologram's shut off, leaving only their selves on display. Two of the other monuments do the same, leaving solid-looking versions of themselves in place of the holograms.  
  
Kaldur doesn't move.  
  
Artemis looks back at the team, then at Wally. They all shrug, so she decides to take the initiative. She steps off of the platform, and walks over to Kaldur. When Wally follows suit, the other monuments flicker off; even their platforms disappear. Only Tula's remains.  
  
While the others maintain their distance for the moment, Artemis plops down next to their leader and rests her head on his shoulder. Finally, Kaldur moves, slipping his arm around her back.  
  
"Everyone was so happy when we got to deactivate your memorial," He starts. "I mean, you were never truly deceased, but so few people knew that... It was still like you came back to life for them. "If only we had not had to add Wally so soon after..."  
  
"Yeah," She agrees hoarsely, choked up by the memory of that loss…  
  
"It was like losing Jason all over again. Another brother, dead at the hands of a villain that should have long since been taken down."  
  
Artemis reaches for his hand and squeezes it. It hurts, thinking about Wally, about Jason. Wally's death was like having her heart gouged out, but few seem to realize how much Jason's death hurt her too.

 

She had always loved the street-smart, back-talking little twerp. She and Jason had often ganged up against Dick and Wally, turning their prank battles into wars of attrition. When he fell at the Joker's hands, she had lost a brother as much as Dick had. Luckily, M'gann was there for her, even as Wally was there for Dick and Clark was there for Bruce. They pulled through okay, if a little more scarred then before. Artemis wonders if anyone ever helped Kaldur through it; she knows he's always blamed himself for the team's failures.  
  
"Then Booster Gold shows up with Blue Beetle, babbling about explosions and time travel and coming back a few years later than they meant to... Well. Jaime finally got the mentors he was hoping for, but with Blue’s hologram gone, the memorial became a testament to my failures. Three dead young heroes, all on my watch. My fault."  
  
"But Jason came back.” She reminds him urgently. "Oracle had to call us back when B figured out who Red Hood was. Remember? She had me and Dick sit on them while you mediated their argument. Got them to stop being complete morons." Kaldur makes a humming noise at Artemis's attempt to cheer him up.  
  
"...Yes," Kaldur finally allows, but he doesn't even try to match her weak smile. In fact, he doesn't even look at her, he's so focused on the hologram in front of him. "Then it was just Wally and Tula left, and sometimes... sometimes it felt like it was just us crying for our dead lovers, like two people who couldn't move on."

 

She frowns at the accusation, ready to counter it, but he cuts her off. "Please don't misunderstand. I hate myself for that feeling. You were, of course, justified in mourning Wally. You two were actually together, and you kept having to watch alternate versions of him die, not letting yourself heal, and he turned out to be alive, so it's a good thing that you're still so in love with him."

 

Artemis doesn't miss the implications of that statement.  She sits up and cups his cheek with her free hand, forcing him to look at her instead of at Tula’s memorial. His eyes are dull and watery. "Kaldur, it's okay to miss her. She was your first friend, your first love! When she died, you lost all of that, as well as your best friend."  
  
"Roy is my best friend." Kaldur corrects her automatically.  
  
"Well Roy was a bit busy being a complete ass and looking for other Roy to support you through it. Garth, at least, should have understood, should have been there for you."  
  
"Garth loved her! He's supposed to grieve for her."  
  
"But you're not?" Kaldur remains silent.  
  
"... I don't deserve to. I'm a terrible, selfish person."  
  
"Kaldur! How can you say that? You're the kindest, most giving person I know! Including M'gann!"  
  
Kaldur turns from her, and says, in a scathing, cool tone, "If I am such a good person, then why, when I look at these deactivated memorials, do I feel such jealousy inside myself?"  
  
She's stunned at the admission. She doesn't know how to reply to that. He swallows, turning back to her.  
  
"Please," he begs with his eyes and body language, "let me explain. I am so, so thankful the others have returned. Our family is whole again." He gestures to where the others still stand a respectful distance away, watching the drama unfold. "I couldn't be happier that Wally's alive, that we have him back... I just... I wish Tula... That she could come back like everyone else." Tears start to roll down his cheeks, and Artemis pulls him into a tight hug. "It's not fair." With that last whispered admission, the floodgates open. He is sobbing in earnest now. Wally zips up to them and sits down on their other side, rubbing circles on the Atlantean's back. The others follow suit. M'gann drops to her knees in front of Kaldur, grasping the hand Artemis isn't holding and leaning against his leg. Conner and Dick stand behind him, hands a comforting presence on his shoulders.  
  
For the first time in years, they are all together, and slowly, that starts to sink in. It takes more than a few murmured, _it’s okay_ ’s and _we’re here for you_ ‘s for Kaldur's tears slow, but eventually they're able to enjoy the moment, the fact that they’re alive _together._  
  
"You know, for the best person in this mindscape, you sure are being hard on yourself." The others nod in agreement at Conner's declaration. "I mean, you're the one that taught me I could be more than a weapon."  
  
"And that trusted me, and made me a spot in this family." Artemis follows his lead.  
  
M'gann adds, "And who worked out earth culture with me."  
  
"And who got Kid Mouth to chew with his mouth closed." Dick smirks at Wally's mock glare.  
  
"And who got our little Robin to admit that he's neither perfect nor as cool as he thinks he is."  
  
"Hey!" Dick protests in 'outrage.'  
  
"Stop it, you two. Your bickering is detrimental to the team's success.” Kaldur chides them, but he's smiling. Their antics are familiar, and loving, and more than enough to cheer him up.  
  
M'gann pops up from the ground and pulls them all into a hug. "I love you guys."

"Us too, M'gann. Us too." Kaldur replies.  
  
  
XxXxX  
  
A while later, they're pulled from their bonding by an earth quake.  
  
"M'gann, what's happening?" Kaldur remains calm even as it the watchtower begins flickering in an out of existence around them."  
  
"Your surgery must be over! They're trying to wake you up!"  
  
"Surgery?"  
  
"You don't remember?"  
  
"You took a laser blast to the gut for Wally."  
  
"Yeah, about that, can I call a vote that we stop pulling these self-sacrificial stunts for each other? It's really stressful for everyone else." The others ignore Wally's half-joke.  
  
"They've been operating on you this whole time."  
  
"I am... glad I wasn't aware of this. So what do we do?"  
  
"I'm letting you go. Just follow my lead. We'll see you on the other side, okay?"  
  
The world continues fading around them as M'gann steps away from the circle, and closes her eyes. The others do the same. When she opens them again, she's leaning against the wall of a very different watchtower. Wonder Woman is kneeling in front of them, shaking Wally awake.  
  
"Hmmfeldible," Wally moans as he open his eyes like the rest of them.  
  
"I'm sorry to wake you guys, but the surgeons just finished with your friend. They say he's going to be fine."  
  
The five younger heroes share a glance amongst themselves.  


"Yeah, we know."


	18. Concentration

Everything is going just fine until Wally calls for help.

 

The data Artemis collected from the Legion is spot on, as are Batman’s predictions of the villain’s behavior. Although a few members hadn’t been tracked down over the last week, all of the heavy hitters had been accounted for. Most were still taking refuge in the ‘more secure’ Legion lair, but a few had had required some tracking of either the magical or mechanical variety.

 

Shayera is fallowing a trail of the former. She’s been assigned to work with Zatanna to take down a couple of the biggest threats; Grodd and his right-hand woman, Tala. Luckily, the two were exactly where they’re supposed to be; hiding out in one of Grodd’s secondary fortresses. With Artemis’ info, it is no trouble at all to draw the two to an unfortified location and begin their attack in earnest.

 

Tala’s magic is ineffective against Hawkgirl’s mace; she’s able to block the hurled spells and smash straight through the sorceress’ shields. With her out of the way, there’s nothing to protect Grodd from Zatanna’s magical entrapment. It’s the easiest take down Shayera’s ever been a part of. She’s almost offended that _these_ villains who have caused so many of their headaches in recent years.

It’s about the time that she starts thinking about letting one of them up for a second round that Wally’s call comes through. It’s also when things start to go wrong. _“This is Flash, to the Justice League! We’re under attack in Paris! Requesting immediate back up!”_

Shayera glances at the villains at her feet, bound and unconscious.“We’re done here, Flash, and I’m itching for a real fight. Zatanna and I will be there as soon as the teleporter techs clear us.”

_“Great. We’re around the Eiffel Tower, but come in low, we’re fighting-“_

_“Hold that thought a second.”_ John’s voice crackles over the Founder’s channel. “ _Anyone else seeing giant vortexes suddenly appear in the sky?”_

Batman cuts in to answer him. “ _Reports are coming in from every team; there’re hoards of small robots monkeys descending upon every team dispatched by the League today.”_ Shayera doesn’t see what they mean until she’s almost blasted in the back by three of the things.

 

“Yrf eht stobor!” The circuitry within her attackers fizzles, courtesy of Zatanna’s spell. This gives her enough time to ready her mace for the next wave. She nods a quick thanks to her partner, and turns as much attention she can back to her comm line.

 

 _“Flash, can you stall for a few minutes?”_ Superman is saying. _“We have to take these things out; they’re targeting innocent bystanders.”_

 

The response wouldn’t sound hesitant to anyone that didn’t know Wally as well as she does. _“You know I’m pretty quick… I’ll come up with something until you guys can get here. Protect the civilians.”_

It’s the expected response, but something about that pause sets her on edge. Wally’s the type of person that will tell you to drop him from ten thousand feet so you can protect yourself, all the while hoping he’ll come up with something before he hits the ground. When has he ever hesitated to demand that they help others first?

 

Shayera turns back to her own battle in time to shield her partner from another of the monkey-robots, but a part of her concentration is still listening to her brother’s fight. Wally seems to have forgotten his comm is even on, and she can’t bear to close the one link she has to him right now.

 

It’s because of this that she’s able to hear Wally’s conversation with Artemis as they regroup.

 

_“What happened?”_

_“Some of the MONQI’s got me when I was dodging Amazo.”_ Shayera nearly fumbles her next attack.

Wally’s fighting Amazo. It took the whole League to bring him down last time; this time he has only Artemis as back up. Is this the power of the Anomaly? It’s keeping the entire Justice League busy, yet it still has the power to send their most powerful foe after the Flash. For the first time, Shayera understands what Artemis and her teammates have been up against, and how it’s possible for them to have failed so many times… But Artemis is speaking again, so Shayera focuses.

 

 _“How bad is it?”_  Shayera waits for his quip.

 

_‘Just a scratch, Babe’._

_‘Nothing to worry about except Monkey Fever.’_

_‘I’m hurt bad, beautiful. Maybe you should kiss it better.’_

The reply never comes. Instead, she just hears Artemis breathe, _“Oh.”_ It sounds more like an _‘Oh no.’_

 

Wally explains in a strained voice that the League is under attack too, and Shayera tries to focus on her own battle in the silence that follows. The swing of her mace and beat of her wings begins to fall into a rhythm as she  tries desperately to end this fight, to get out of here and save Wally…

 

She realizes how long its been since either has spoken. She’s never heard Wally stay quiet this long; any moment now he’s going to have a stupid plan, or a joke, or he’s just going to jump back into the fray with no sense of caution. Or maybe things are different with Artemis being there; Shayera knows she’s feisty, a fighter. She’ll make some desperate plan to hold it off until help arrives. He’ll make something work, like he always does.

 

The hoped-for levity never comes. Instead, when Wally speaks again, he simply says, “ _We’re on our own._ _There’s no one left to call.”_

Her heart breaks at the despair in her little brother’s voice.

 

XxXxX

 

Batman doesn’t let the line drop after Wally’s request is denied and the speedster tries to end the call. He knows he needs to concentrate on the battle before him, but he rationalize that half of his attention would be speculating on the state of the Parisian battle regardless. There’s no harm to keep Wally on the founder’s comm channel. At least this way, he knows what is happening (he knows that Wally isn’t dead yet), and knowledge is always an advantage. Still, he starts to lose the sounds of the distant battle to the struggles of his own, so he’s startled when Wally begins to speak again.

 

 _“Holy cow! Where did you come from?”_ Wally’s panicking; and Bruce grows concerned. Certainly there isn’t _another_ threat entering the battle?

_“Relax, Flash. I’m Nightwing…”_

Nightwing. His son. (Not his, _his._ )

In Paris, with their Wally. (Not their, _their._ )

_“Fight now! Talk later!”_

They’re losing. ( _They_ are losing.)

Because even if he and Clark defeat these robots, and save all the civilians. Even if Amazo is brought down, and the Anomaly is stopped. Even if Wally _survives,_ they have lost him.

Because _they’re_ here.

Wally won’t choose them over _them._ (Bruce wouldn’t choose here either. _There_ he has a family. There _Wally_ has a family.)

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. (Nothing is supposed to be like this.)

But he should have known. Things never go this well for him. (Though they seem to go really well for _him._ )

So Batman resolves himself, and throws everything he has into this fight. (Because he will never win _that_ fight).

Maybe they can end this quickly, and save their speedster ( _their_ speedster) and his son _(his_ son) and he can learn to be happy knowing they’re out there _somewhere,_ alive and happy.

 _He_ certainly will be.

 

XxXxX

 

“ _Artemis!”_

Clark flinches as Wally’s desperate, distorted cry emanates from Bruce’s comm. He’s long since lost his own comm in the fray, relying instead on super-hearing and Bruce’s ever-sturdy cowl for news on their endangered speedster.

_“Didn’t see… that one coming… punk.”_ Wally’s voice is strained, his breathing heavy. ~~~~

An unknown voice speaks up. _“Get another compress on that wound. We’re going to need him again.”_

Even straining his hearing, Clark catches no more discussion from the Paris end of the line. Wally has stopped talking all together. It’s the scariest thing Clark has never heard. As the minutes tick by, Superman’s concern for his friend grows, as does his anger at the ‘Anomaly.’ Innocents are being attacked. His friends are in danger. Wally might be _dying._ The pressure builds behind his eyes as he surveys the flock of robots attacking them. This needs to end. Now.

 

“Batman.” His voice is low, nearly a growl. “Duck.” The Caped Crusader has never been one to follow orders; he must sense the threat in Kal’s voice, because he rolls out of the way without hesitation. The moment the man is clear, Clark lets heat pour from his eyes.

 

Their enemies burn.

 

XxXxX

 

John is in one of the first groups to return to the Watchtower, and considers himself to have been very patient in the precious minutes it takes for the rest of the League to fall back. Someone has initiated a consecutive mass-teleportation in the wake of the battle, and the Leaguers coming through the teleporters are increasingly on edge; everyone knows this is one of Batman’s contingency plans for a widespread attack of unknown origins, to be used only in emergencies.

 

John is simply annoyed. This isn’t an unknown attacker as far as he’s concerned. It doesn’t take the Bat’s detective skills to figure that out. He knows that the Anomaly is trying to kill Wally, and that it’s been successful in every universe so far. He knows it has the power to cross dimensions, and practically warp reality as they know it. That an army from another dimension appeared at almost the exact moment the Hot Shot asked for help can’t be a coincidence. The League was being delayed, leaving Wally as vulnerable as he’ll ever be.

 

He’s seen this tactic employed dozens of times during his career as a Marine, then as a superhero; even employed it himself a few times. It’s common wisdom to take the easiest route possible; no need to bother eliminating the opponent when all you need to beat him is time. These armies weren’t sent here as a threat to the League, nor as a promise of another invasion. They weren’t even just a warning. Not really.

 

No, hundreds of lives were threatened, millions of dollars in damages were incurred, and the entire Justice League was kept busy for almost an hour as a mere _distraction._

 

John also knows what it means that the distraction is over; that Wally might be…

 

He returns his focus to the materializing heroes, mentally counting how many groups are left. Finally, _finally_ the last group is materializing, and he’s able to get back on the platform to get down to Paris. Wally _needs_ them, now, and nobody’s going to tell him otherwise.

 

"[Clear](http://store.tcgplayer.com/Products.aspx?GameName=Magic&Name=Clear&partner=AUTOANY) the platform!"  One of the technicians has the gall to try and shoo John out of the way. "We have another group that needs to come up, and the medics will need clear access!"  
  
John resists the urge to strangle the man. He’s been following the reports since his group returned to the Watchtower. Each group succeeded in their initial objectives despite the robot army’s sudden appearance, and no one was seriously injured. Wally needs reinforcements more than anyone needs medical aid. _Why doesn’t he understand that?_

 

"Whoever it is can afford to wait a few extra seconds, you have to send us down as reinforcements for Flash!"  
  
An odd expression flashes across the technician’s face, and John feels his stomach drop.

 

"Who do you think the emergency transport is for?"

XxXxX

 

J'onn has to count them twice when they materialize on the platform.  
  
Wally. Artemis. M'gann. Two dark-haired boys. Their dark-skinned friend.  
  
That's six people.  
  
 _He only feels four minds._  
  
There's the rushing vortex of Wally's mind and the hard edges of Artemis'. Further prodding reveals two strangers; a steel wall, and a shadowy haze. There is no hint of the sorcery-veined mindscape he associates with Atlanteans or the complex infrastructure of a Martian's mental self-representation. Where are the other two?  
  
 _Where is his niece?_  
  
He watches the medical personnel approach the group from a distance rather than pressing forward like many of the other leaguers. For him, the details of the blood-spattered group are inconsequential; he already knows that two of the slumped figures won't respond to physical prodding. He's still trying to feel for them mentally, because even protected minds have a presence. The only time a being has no mental presence at all is when they are... No. The universe would not be so cruel. Wally's friends ( _his niece)_ must survive.  
  
Suddenly, the largest boy (that's the El crest, it must be Superboy, then) is scooping M'gann up in his arms. J'onn is simultaneously concerned and relieved as two more mental presences make themselves known. His niece is unharmed; their comrade is less lucky. He's a little embarrassed too; M'gann was performing common, if not simple, medical aid. He should have recognized the technique. It's been so long since he's seen anyone join minds so closely, though... Underneath it all, he can’t help but feel a little pride at her power, her talent.  
  
He mentally follows their progress as the group moves towards the Med Bay. His niece is distraught. They all are, really, and who can blame them? Still, it is his niece's mind that he reaches for. When she feels the press of his thoughts, she yields without hesitation. If anything, she is welcoming, grateful of his presence; he will not let that trust down.

 

Through her mind, he can see the horror of the past hour, particularly the agony and despair in her elder brother's mind. His determination redoubles; they will not let this boy die. He vows to help as he can.  
  
He sifts her mind and sees that he is in luck; she was raised on the same tales as he. It only takes a slight tug on her memory of _The Tale of Four Wanderers_ for her to understand his meaning.  
  
 _‘That's never been done before. Not with non-Martians.’  
_  
 _‘I have faith in you. More importantly, they have faith in you.’_ He resolves an image of Wally's confident grin as emphasis. ‘ _You won't let them down.’_  
  
There's a tentative brush into his own mind – it's been so long since he's been around other telepaths that he hadn't yet realized that the whole conversation had been within her mind – and her gratitude sweeps in, along with the hesitance of a reluctant question.  
  
 _‘Not now, we will speak at a later time. Return your awareness to your friends. They need you.’_ He pulls her injured friend’s heartache and guilt from the air.

_‘You all can make this fight easier for him. I will do my best to filter interference for you.’_

There’s one last brush of gratefulness into his lonely mind. _‘Thank you, Uncle J'onn.’_  
  
Then she's gone.

 

 

XxXxX

 

Diana heads to the Med Bay as soon as she is able. The medical report indicates Wally has a serious wound in his leg, but she knows he won’t have it seen to, not while his friend is still in surgery. As one of the more responsible founders, she takes it upon herself to make sure their speedster takes care of his _own_ health for once.

 

She stops short when she turns down the medical corridor for the second time in as many weeks.

 

The young heroes from before – the heroes who had rescued their speedster in the League’s absence – are piled atop one another, woven together seemingly with no thought spared towards personal boundaries. Diana can’t help but think that they look like children despite the blood and sweat and tears that mar their bodies, evidencing their recent struggles.

 

She smiles, thinking of how Wally might stamp his foot and pout at that insinuation. Still, in this one unguarded moment she can’t help but admire how at peace they are. They exude an air of innocence, not the cynical paranoia of the seasoned heroes they are. She’s not sure if the world is cruel or kind for gifting Wally such friends, then forcing them to suffer the tragedy of a dozen lifetimes.

 

A weight on her arm startles her from her examination of the group, and forces her to take note of her surroundings. She is not as alone as she first thought. J’onn is here, sitting across the hall from the group. He’s facing the younger heroes, legs folded and eyes closed as if meditating. Shayera is pacing at the other end of the corridor, occasionally shooing nosy leaguers away with not small amount of irritation. John is attempting to change the bandage on Flash’s leg without jostling the younger heroes too much.

 

“Won’t that wake him?” She asks quietly of Clark, whose hand had originally jolted her from her reverie.

 

“No. J’onn says they won’t wake… not until their friend has awakened from his surgery. It’s some Martian therapy thing.” Clark shrugs, eyes serious. “He’s trying to filter out mental interference, apparently, so I’m not sure if he can hear us, but before he went under her said the best thing we could do is be here for him… them.”

 

“The one they’re operating on is Atlantean, and he needs several pints of blood for a transfusion.” John adds from where he’s kneeling. “I think Batman went to bully Aquaman into getting what he needs.”

 

She can’t help a small smile at the thought. Bruce will never, ever admit it, but he does care for them, even if the ways he shows it are unorthodox. If only he weren’t so stubbornly guarding his heart he might realize how much they each return that affection.

 

After a few moments wistful contemplation, she joins John in checking the unknown heroes for injuries, leaving Clark to guard this side of the corridor. It takes a few hours, but Bruce eventually returns with the needed blood, as well as food for the founders, who have refused to leave their silent vigil over the younger heroes.

 

It is both an instant and an eternity later when a surgeon steps from the operating room and informs them that the procedure was a success; the boy will live, and is being awoken now to check for other trauma. Diana hasn’t left the children’s side in all that time. She reaches out to cup Wally’s face as the younger heroes begin to stir.

 

"Hmmfeldible?" Diana smiles as Wally slowly returns to consciousness.  
  
"I'm sorry to wake you guys, but the surgeons just finished with your friend. They say he's going to be fine."  
  
She sees so much in the glance the five share, and yet knows that she’s seeing only a little of what’s actually there.  
  
"Yeah, we know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang it, Bruce. Quit being so pessimistic. You’re depressing me. Thank goodness a certain birdy is around now to force you to be cheerful.
> 
> If anyone is wondering, this was the line up for the main six + partners:
> 
> Batman: Bizzaro and various  
> Superman: Giganta and various  
> (They’re the only two founders involved in the fight at Legion HQ)   
> Green Lantern and Black Canary: Heatwave, Volcana and Killer Frost   
> Hawk Girl and Zatanna: Tala and Grodd  
> Martian Manhunter and Dr. Light: Star Sapphire and Sinestro   
> Wonder Woman and Super Girl: Metallo, Blockbuster and Queen Bee (Who may or may not have taken control of the other two…)


	19. Interlude- Mary West

“No, no, no, no, _no!”_

Glass scratches her fingers as she tries to put the picture frame back together. That just makes it worse as blood begins to stain the photo, as tears make the watercolors of the hand-panted _Best Mommy Ever_ frame-heading run. This flusters her more, because _Wally_ gave this to her, his precious art project that he made just for her, and now its broken and the glass has torn one of the too-few pictures she has of her and her baby boy together.

 

She finally just gives up, leaning back against the wall and scrubbing at her face, as if this will make the tears stop. She knows all too well that it will not.

 

“Mary?” No, Rudy can’t be home yet, he can’t see her like this; they’ve been doing so _well,_ but now she broke his picture frame and _it won’t go back together._

 

“Oh, Sweetheart.” He’s suddenly sliding down to sit beside her, pulling her into his arms, rubbing circles on her back. “It’ll be okay.”

 

“It’s _not okay!”_  The words have more bite behind them than she means. Bless her husband, her other half, for never holding that against her during these… _episodes._

“I know.” He doesn’t expand upon his dull words. Instead, he simply continues holding her and rubbing her back.

 

Rudy has never been overly emotional. He’s her quiet man, her rock, her anchor from the worries of this world. Even so, she knows that the chain that keeps them moored is taught, ready to snap under the sustained pressure it has been subjected to ever since they lost their Little Light. She can see it in her husband’s eyes, the way they glaze over ads for graduations and weddings and baby clothes. She hears it in his voice when he can’t _quite_ congratulate their friends for their children’s accomplishments. She feels it, in the dead of night, when the silent sobs that sometimes still wrack his body wake her, and all she can do is hold him close.

 

That’s why she tries not to do this. He’s trying so hard to be there for her that he can’t be strong for himself.

 

“He’d be glad you did it, and not him, so he wouldn’t have to be lectured about slowing down in the house.” She wants to laugh as she remembers the way Wally would gloat over _not_ being the klutz for once. It comes out more like a choking cough. Still, that’s progress, and she’ll take it, for Rudy’s sake.

 

She doesn’t mention how easily the past tense came off of her husband’s tongue. That’s something they never talk about. She wonders if he feels guilty, the way she does, when she doesn’t trip up. When she doesn’t start to speak in the present tense, or set a third place at the table, or marvel at her grocery bill.

 

When she sees Kid Flash on the news and doesn’t even start to think it that it’s not Bart.

 

Eventually, she’s able to speak. It’s on a different subject, like always.

 

“The Twins’ birthday is coming up,” she manages to get out. “Iris sent over the invitation today. You can get off work early?”

 

“With this much notice? Of course.”

 

Their niece and nephew are spoiled rotten, in no small part thanks to their own efforts. Mary reasons that it’s only fair for them to play the doting grandparents. The twins might be the closest they’ll ever have to grandchildren, if Artemis doesn’t begin to move on soon. Besides, they have to make up for Wally not being there to get them into his own kind of trouble.

 

“It will be nice to see everyone. I think Barry’s even trying to get in contact with Artemis.”

 

“She’ll be staying with us?”

 

“I assume so, unless something drastic has changed since the last time she came home.”

 

“I better get a move on fixing the fan in her room, then. She’ll never get to sleep with the clanking it’s been making lately.”

 

Calling Wally’s old room _her_ room is the only change that has felt natural. She’s their daughter, even if it will never be official, and she spends most of the nights she’s in this dimension here with them. Mary loves it when she does; it makes their home feel a little less broken. Seeing the pain on the girl’s face when faced with her son’s old things even gave her the strength to move most of them into storage so that the room would be less of a reminder of their loss. She and Rudy weren’t quite strong enough to do it themselves, but Barry and Hal didn’t seem to mind. She keeps the key to the storage unit on a clip in her purse, where she could take it and go down to see Wally’s things at any time she wants. It’s a perfectly legitimate thing to do, she tells herself. It’s not a crutch.

 

It’s easier to tell herself these things when she has superheroes to compare herself to.

 

She doesn’t mean to pry, but she knows Artemis stopped paying for her and Wally’s flat after his death. As far as Mary can tell, Artemis went back to the place one final time to grab their dog and Wally’s favorite jersey, and never looked back. It’s only through a hacked bank re-routing and Dick’s stubborn refusal to let the place be sold that the flat has remained untouched. No one says anything about it though, because Wally and Dick were best friends. He has the money to rent the flat indefinitely. Who are they to tell him that he has to let go?

 

Out of all of them, though, Bart is probably the worst. Everyone knows Wally died for the world, but that it was specifically for him. She thinks that’s why Bart comes to visit them so often. He does little chores for them, brings up corny jokes, steals their junk food… It breaks her heart, how hard he’s trying to make it up to them. She does her best to be to welcome him with cookies, invitations to stay over, cut out articles of Kid Flash’s latest heroics – whatever it takes for the boy to understand that they don’t blame him, and that he shouldn’t blame himself. She thinks this only makes him feel guiltier, and that maybe it’s the reason he’s been spending more and more time at her son’s old flat instead of with them. She wants to tell him, ‘ _Come back! We don’t blame you! He died for you so that we could love you too!’_ but she can’t ever make the words come.

 

“Come on, Lovey. We’ll bandage up your hands, and then we can go start looking at gifts for out little dust devils, right?”

 

“…Yeah. That’s... a good idea. Thank you.” Her voice gains conviction as celebratory thoughts make the lost picture frame seem just a little less devastating. “You should see the guest list she emailed me. It’s going to be one hell of a party.”

 

“Is that so? I can’t wait to see who all shows up.”

 

He holds out his hand to help her stand up, and for a while the pain stops and she can focus on buying gifts and being excited about the toddlers’ birthday.


	20. Hesitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang it guys! Quit picking up on foreshadowing that seemed really subtle when I decided to throw those lines in in the middle of the night.
> 
> But really, yay! Finally done with the hard stuff after this…

“M’fine, John!” Wally makes the obligatory effort to shoo John away from checking his leg wound again, though he really doesn’t mind his friend’s mother-henning. He’s too happy to find much of anything annoying right now.

 

The League took down most of the Legion of Doom, despite the unexpected interruption. Only a few relatively low-level villains escaped in the chaos, and no civilians were killed. Plus, he and the team just performed the greatest take-down ever (in his most humble opinion) during their own battle in Paris. Those victories alone would be cause for celebration in Wally’s book. The silencing of the small voice in the back of his head – the suppressed fears and agony of a young man who suffered under those monsters hands for a fortnight – was simply a bonus.

 

The real cause for his joy though, is the arrival of the Team. His family is _here –_ well, most of them anyways – and they’ve missed him and they’re all going to be okay. Yeah, Kaldur got injured (stupid, self-sacrificing je- no, Kaldur’s too nice to be called a jerk even jokingly in his own mind), but he’s going to be fine. _Everyone’s_ going to be fine.

 

So Wally can just sit back and enjoy having them here. Once John stops poking at the wound on his leg (and Shayera gives him a piece of her mind, if her irritated stance is anything to go by), he’ll have to introduce everyone of course. He knows they’re going to love each other as much as he loves them. Clark will probably make Conner play ball with him and J’onn’ll have M’gann to be all mind-meldy with and Bruce will… well. He’ll probably be his grumpy self for a while, but if anyone can make Bats smile, it’s Dick.

 

Everything’s just… perfect.

 

“If you would hold still, Hotshot, we could be done with this already.” John chastises him.

 

“Bribe him with this. It’s ridiculously effective.”

 

Wally suddenly notices the snack Dick is offering to GL. “Chicken Whizzies! Gimme!”

 

They’re yanked back out of his reach. “Not until you let Lantern check your leg. Your super-healing does weird things sometimes.” Wally grumbles, but accedes.

 

“How did you know that would work?”

 

“A better question,” Artemis cuts in, “is where was he keeping them?”

 

“A Bat never reveals its secrets.” How the Nightwing mask is flexible enough to let Dick wiggle his eyebrows at them, Wally may never know.

 

“Everyone good now? Great. Get out of the way.” Shayera pushes John and Dick away from Wally so she can crouch right in front of where he’s sprawled on the floor. She grabs his shoulders and shakes them. “Don’t you dare pull a stunt like that again!Do you know how worried I was about you? I’m pinned down fighting these stupid robot monkeys – who the hell thinks Monkey _anything_ a good idea by the way-“

 

“Here here!” Conner throws in.

“-and all of a sudden I hear you’re fighting _Amazo_ -“

“You could hear that? I deliberately turned my comm off so you guys wouldn’t be distracted by my fight!”

 “-and then you’re _hurt_ and then you _stop talking!_ I have never heard you not talk before! It was unnatural! So just… just don’t do it again.” Wally returns her hug as her anger runs out, finally allowing her worry and relief to bleed through.

“I’m so sorry, Sis. I’m okay though. It’s okay,” he soothes her. “No seriously.  Getting dressed down is killing my happy-buzz.” She chuckles against him, but doesn’t let go for another moment. “Thanks, Shay. I’m feeling the love.”

Kaldur nudges sleepily at the back of his mind. “ _It is polite to introduce people who are meeting for the first time.”_

“Ah! Right, I forgot.”  He turns shifts out of Shayera’s hug to address more of the Leaguers. “Guys, this was my team growing up.” He points his thumb back over his shoulder to where they’re still leaning against the wall to Kaldur’s room. “You all know Artemis already. Kaldur, aka Aqualad, is the too-kind-for-his-own-good idiot that’s in the OR. That’s Conner, aka Superboy; and Dick, aka Nightwing.” He leans towards Shayera and cups his hand at the side of his mouth, like he’s telling a secret. “It’s okay if you forget their names.”

 

Conner sighs and mutters, “Every single time,” but Wally ignores him.

“Finally, may I introduce you to the ever-lovely M’gann M’orzz, aka Miss Martian, aka the finest Martian babe this side of the Milky Way.” Wally gestures dramatically to M’gann, as if presenting her as a Victorian Ball. “By the way, I’m the only one allowed to hit on her like that, because I was grandfathered in before she left bachelorette-hood behind, so back off if you know what’s good for you. Especially you, Boy Scout Senior.” He points two fingers at his own eyes, then at Clark’s. Poor Clark is so flustered that he backs right up into a wall.

 

“Wally! Be nice!” The subject of his flattery demands. Shayera is more than willing to swat the back of his head in her place.

 

“Yes Ma’am.” He salutes them. “You guys are mostly familiar with my fellow Leaguers here, of course. This feisty lady here is my big sister Shayera Hol, A.K.A. Hawkgirl. Am I the only one that thinks it’s weird that she’s _Shiera_ and Hawk _woman_ in our universe? Like, that’s a weird thing to change between universes? It would be interesting to look into what caused _that_ change when the rest of our names are the same. I wonder if-“

 

“Wally, we got it,” Artemis cuts him off.

 

“Very smooth with the rambling, Kid Mouth.”

 

“Shut it, Boy Blunder. I will sic GL on you. You’d back me up, right John?”

 

“I am _not_ getting involved with this.” John pointedly denies, despite Wally’s pout.

 

“Fine. See if I back you up next time Shayera and/or Mari tear you a new one.”

 

“That is completely-!”

 

“So I call this flustered guy here GL, because it’s a good way to differentiate him from Uncle John, and you guys of course know Supes, J’onn, Bats and Diana.”

 

“It is never not going to be strange hearing you call Auntie Di by her first name.” Dick grumbles. The Leaguers raise their eyebrows at that statement, but nobody asks, and Dick doesn’t bother expanding upon that little fact.

 

Once it’s clear Wally’s done M’gann is the first one to speak up.  “It’s so nice to meet you guys,” she says, moving to hug the League founders, beginning with a very surprised Shayera and ending with a very welcoming J’onn. Only Batman keeps her at arms length. “I love making new friends!”

 

J’onn inclines his head towards the younger heroes. “It is an honor to meet you all as well. Wally has spoken of you often in the past few days.”

 

“It’s totally whelming to be here.” Dick agrees with a cheery wave. He moves to shake John’s hand, spurring the others to make polite motions of conciliation. Wally grins like an idiot all the while.

 

_“I’m sorry to interrupt, but can someone ask if there’s anything of immediate importance to be discussed? The surgeons are going to put me back under since I am responding well to their anesthetics. I’m not sure I can contribute much longer.”_

 

Artemis relays Kaldur’s message, much to the League’s surprise.

 

J’onn in particular is astounded. “You all remain linked enough for him to be that… present?”

 

Batman cuts in before anyone can answer him.

 

“The Anomaly. It was able to delay the entire League _and_ send an Amazo from another dimension after the Flash. I was given no previous indication that it was that powerful.” Clark and Diana try to step in.

 

“C’mon Bruce, is this really the time?”

 

“Bruce! They’ve just been through an ordeal. Leave them be!”

 

Batman isn’t willing to back down though. “No. This… thing nearly killed Flash. It could come after him again at any time, and in case you haven’t realized, there may be nothing we can do to stop it. I need as much information as I can get. Now.”

 

Dick sighs; the rest of the Team is more than willing to let Nightwing face off against the Big Bad Bat-face Bruce is making. “We didn’t know it was that powerful either. Usually if we show up and start winning, it’s more than willing to back down. This time it’s like… it’s like it was playing with us, like it’s not on any kind of schedule, just trying to stir up as much trouble as possible. That it stopped you all from helping – even having that MONQI go through the effort of playing dead – it doesn’t match its usual M.O.”

 

“Maybe it realized I’m from another dimension and it’s mad that it didn’t get me the first time. Like – I’m the one that got away!” Wally posits.

 

John scoffs and Clark rolls his eyes good-humoredly, but the Team seems to take this suggestion in all seriousness, much to the John’s chagrin. _How often do we dismiss him out of hand with not reason other than simple habit?_ He can’t help but ask himself.

 

“I suppose it’s possible. It’s not like we know what its motivations are, anyways, or if it even has enough of a conscience to _have_ motivation.” Dick is silent for a moment; Wally can feel his teammates pondering the possibility in the back of the mindlink. “Deviations from the pattern aside, what we can take out of this is that we can’t count on getting the help we need. This time, we’re going to have to fight smarter, not harder.” Here, Dick hesitates, and turns directly to Batman. “I’ll give you everything we have, but this really isn’t the place to go over it.”

 

“…Very well. You can debrief in the ‘Cave.” His cape sweeps out a dark arc as he turns and begins walking away from the group. Even Dick is surprised but the man’s abruptness.

 

“Uh, wait, now?”

 

“Is that a problem?”

 

 _“Go do you Bat thing. Use Blue’s clues to find Carmen Sandiego, save the world, all that jazz.”_ Wally encourages at his best friend’s hesitance to leave his side.

 

 _“Seriously, Boy Wonder. Go. We’ll sit on Wally ‘till you get back.”_ Artemis adds. Wordless affirmation from Conner and M’gann warms the link. Kaldur, too, seems to agree, but his side of their mental comm is growing fuzzy on narcotic pain meds. He’s gone entirely only a few moments later.

 

“Uh, no.” The acrobat suddenly recovers at a mental suggestion from M’gann. “Actually, I’m totally looking forward to having a sleepover with you!” The Dark Knight’s face twitches at the younger Bat’s newfound enthusiasm. He’s not used to losing control of the situation like that, and he’s just beginning to realize how guarded he will have to be around this boy.

 

For his own defense, Batman resumes stalking off. A new, bouncy shadow follows after him. Wally stifles a laugh at the look on Diana’s face when Dick’s parting comment echoes down the hall to them. “If we tell him we’re going to have to pull an all-nighter, do you think Agent A will make us cookies and hot chocolate?”

 

“…Did that really just happen?” Clark asks as he struggles to shake the dumfounded look off his face.

 

“Yeah, we don’t get how he does it either.” Conner offers the older Kryptonian.

 

Clark suddenly looks nervous; He scuffs his boots and rubs the back of his neck. “I guess if Batman gets to take his counterpart’s partner home, maybe I could do the same? Ma and Pa’d be more than happy to have you, and I know Kara’s dying to meet you…”

 

“Kara?”

 

“Your smoking hot cousin.” Wally offers, helpfully. “Not in my opinion, of course. Just sayin’ what I’ve heard.” He adds at Clark’s glare and Artemis’ mental projection of her irritation.

 

“I... I would like to me them. I just... Megs?” Conner turns to his girlfriend, hesitant to abandon her just to meet his parent’s counterparts.

 

“Don’t worry about me, Conner. If worse come to worse, Artemis and I can just kick Wally out of his quarters and have a girls’ night.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“Of course, I won’t leave my girl hanging!” Artemis assures Conner over Wally’s protests. M’gann grins at the prospect of some much-needed girl time, and hugs her sister for going along with it.

 

“It doesn’t have to come to that.” They turn to J’onn in surprise when he finally speaks up. “I, uh… It was probably mentally taxing to perform both a _Sheleara Oo’mse_ and a six-way _Shabtl-cur_ ** in one night. If you require meditation, my quarters have an annex for such things; the room is well-shielded from mental intrusions.” Wally does a mental victory dance. Three for three and he didn’t even have to do anything.

 

“I would love to meditate with you, Uncl- I mean, J’onn.” M’gann smiles and projects some of her appreciation of the offer. “Uncle J’onn – my J’onn, that is – always chastises me for not properly clearing my mind after such exertions.”

 

“Excellent. Everyone’s taken care of, then.” John crosses his arms.  “Are we done here? Mari’s going to be furious we took this long.” Shayera scoffs her derision, but John ignores her. It’s been a trying day – days? John isn’t sure what the count is, anymore – and John isn’t ready to deal with all of this. He doesn’t have some alternate-dimension protégé to focus on, so he’s taking the first escape route he sees.

 

“Yeah. I guess we’re all good here.” Wally moves to hug the four aliens before they go. “I didn’t realize how tired I was until you said something.” He takes Artemis’ stifled yawn as agreement.

 

“See everyone in the morning then?” He gives one final round of hugs to Shayera and Diana at their assent, before whisking Artemis off to his room. Who knew life-and-death battles, long-lost reunions, and mental side-quests were so exhausting? The others keep up a mental dialogue for a few more moments as they head their separate ways.

 

“ _E.T. phone home tomorrow? Or are you gonna chicken out on us again, Kid Smooth? ‘Cause there’s no other excuse not to call everyone up now that these miscreants know.”_ Artemis teases him.

 

 _“What? I can’t just pop home and say ‘Hi! I’m not dead!’ to them in person_?”

_“Well, theoretically you could, if one of us lent you our remote.”_ M’gann chimes in, oblivious to his joking ton _e._ He’s completely caught off guard by that response.

_“What?!?”_ Because that are two completely shocking, left field bit of information. “ _What do you mean?”_

 

They hesitate, but finally Conner speaks up _. “It’s... not that hard to jump that ‘far’ if you have a remote and both a sending and receiving platform. Or even just a remote, if you’re only jumping one or two dimensions over. Regardless, Artemis should have that stuff set up in her bunker.”_

_“I could… go home? Like, anytime? Is there a reason no one mentioned that before?”_

 

The inquiry is mostly aimed at Artemis, and she’s the one that offers an explanation _. “I didn’t want to say anything because it’s… not really on the table._ _We try not to go home much, in case it the narrowing of the space-time gap between our dimensions allows the Anomaly to follow us. We don’t need it to go after Bart again.”_

_“What does that mean?”_ He could go home, see his family… but he can’t. Because this, this _thing_ that’s trying to end him might go after his baby cousin instead.

_“…The Anomaly’s not as omnipotent as it seems. When we first started out Bart volunteered to be a part of this mission. I mean, it’s not like we could tell him ‘no.’ It was a disaster. The Anomaly seemingly couldn't distinguish between the two Kid Flashes and went after both with a vengeance. If Oracle hadn't been able to set up an emergency override on his TD mark and get him out of there... We would have lost him. As it were, The Anomaly took that Wally down and was... I guess cruel is the best word to use, in the next few dimensions.”_

At the reminder of the Anomaly’s track record, Batman’s words come rushing back to him. _There may be nothing we can do to stop it._ He’d been so focused, in that one moment of home, on seeing his family again that he let himself get a little bit selfish.

 

A near-omnipotent adversary has been travelling the universe just to kill _him._ His team has failed dozens of times before, and the Anomaly has only gotten meaner since. It’s even willing to go after other speedsters, just in case. Would it go after Bart if he tried to go home? Or maybe Barry, since he’s the Flash instead of Kid Flash now? Wally’s already tried to die to protect them once. How could he put them in danger like that, just because he wanted to see them? Following that logic… a lump forms in Wally’s throat.

 

 _“Guys. We… we can’t tell anyone I’m alive. Not yet.”_ Shock and confusion echoes through the mind link, but they allow him to explain. _“I can’t… do that to them. I’m just… If we fail, if the Anomaly gets me… It wouldn’t be fair, to call them up and tell them I’m alive only for me to die without even getting to see them.”_ He can see his family, in their minds. Bart’s guilt, his parent’s sorrow… he shouldn’t be alive to know how much he hurt his family. To do it twice…

_“Wow, Wally, I’m really feeling the confidence you place in us.”_ Conner’s trying to be accusatory, but the joke falls flat. Each and every one of them is carrying the guilt of more the one failure. The stakes are so much higher this time, though, and it’s hard to make jokes when they know the consequences of failing again.

 

 _“Wally…”_ M’gann tries to think of something comforting to say. There is nothing. Artemis halts their progress to pull him into a hug.

 

_“We understand. We… we’ll keep it a secret.”_

_“We’re going to win this time, though. Promise.”_

 

XxXxX

 

Later that night, Wally lays curled around Artemis, still awake. He just can’t stop thinking about that _what if…_ because the more he thinks about it, the more likely it seems that they really might lose this time. If he pays the price for that failure…

He wants everyone to know how much he loves them. The Team, the League, his parents, his aunt and uncle, Bart… They deserve to know how much they mean to him. He won’t leave them like he did last time, silently ducking out of the Watchtower without a word. They deserve that much, at least.

 

Perhaps more than that, though, he doesn’t want to be the reason they go rogue. He knows them all well, if there were some way for him to soothe their rage from beyond the grave…

 

He doesn’t get out of bed immediately when the idea comes to him. He lies there, listening to Artemis breathe and feeling her warmth in his arms as he thinks. He thinks about who he absolutely has to say something to, and whom he can leave with only a few lines, or even nothing at all. He thinks about how they might feel, what he needs to say. He thinks about how to apologize to them all.

 

Only once he has it all planned out in his head can he bear to extricate himself from Artemis’ arms. With his speed, it only takes him a few minutes to write his letters, pull on some real clothes, and be out the door. An instant later he’s standing in front of Question’s door, silently praying Huntress isn’t here tonight and that he’s not at her place instead.

 

Luckily, the man in question answers the door on the third knock, looking only slightly sleep-rumpled and irritated.

 

“Flash. To what do I owe this surprise?”

 

“Vic. I need you to do something really important for me. How determined are you to stop the Lords from happening?”

 

“You know the answer to that.”

 

“I just wanted to make sure. If things… go wrong for me, can you get these to the people on the front of the envelope? If you don’t know who someone is, give it to Artemis. She’ll get it to the right person. I just… I think this may help them cool down enough not to go Lord or anything, y’know?”

 

“This is oddly well thought out for you, Flash. What is the League at large not being told?”

 

“It’s not important.”

 

The faceless man is silent for a moment. “Very well. I’m sure I will stumble upon the information myself, since you’ve given me such a good hint at the right questions. I will ensure your friends get these.”

 

“Thanks, Q. You’re a good friend.” The detective inclines his head at the compliment.

 

“Sleep well.”

 

“I think I will, now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I totally made these Martian words up, so don’t go looking for them in the Martian Dictionary, or anything.


	21. Information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just saw the Flashpoint Paradox. It was awesome. Until I realized (didn’t read Flashpoint, so I didn’t know this until now) that it’s Barry’s fault Wally doesn’t exist anymore. He killed his own nephew and said nephew’s kids, and he doesn’t even remember it. *Cries*
> 
> Anyways, KALDUR WAS IN IT, AND HE WAS AWESOME!!!!! And seriously, could they have used any more models straight from Young Justice? Kaldur, Garth, Tula, that Reporter that is totally a pallet-swapped Cat Grant…. Yeah. Moving on….

The ride to the Batcave is silent.

 

Not for lack of trying on Dick’s part, of course. It’s just that he hasn’t met a Batman this reticent since Bruce had laryngitis back in his first year at the Manor. So it is that the seventeen minutes between being teleported to the Batmobile’s location and actually pulling into the cave are some of the most awkward in the young acrobat’s life.

 

It makes him sad.

 

He noticed it, a little, when he and Bruce had come here to help Artemis when she was first getting settled. The empty cave, the heightened paranoia, the solemnity in this other-Batman’s eyes... it was clear that Bruce was the sole member of this world’s Bat Clan. His assumption that this Bruce was at least still close to the League was summarily shattered by the man’s actions this evening.

 

Oh, _they_ cared for _him,_ that much was obvious. It was the lack of reciprocation that baffled Dick. His Bruce has always had a (grudging) soft spot for most of the League, particularly for Dick’s Uncle Clark. Several members he outright respected, among them Black Canary and Wonder Woman. This Bruce, however, didn’t seem to have any compunction about blowing the lot of them off.

 

Wally will come first – he has to – but that doesn’t mean Dick’s not filing these thoughts into the back of his brain for when the Anomaly is taken care of. Whatever it is that has Batman so afraid of dropping his emotional walls – because Dick’s sure he’s reading it right; this man loves them even if he won’t show it – Nightwing’s confidant that he can overcome it.

 

Bruce pulls smoothly into one of the ‘Cave’s alcoves as their journey finishes. Dick opts not to comment on the fact that the security system recognized him as an ally rather than an intruder, or even a guest. The younger hero is promptly led to the Batcave’s mainframe, and the Dark Knight gestures for him to do his thing. They’re falling into what Dick’s always called ‘Detective Mode’ now. Dick allows it. In this context, at least, Batman’s recalcitrance is more understandable.

 

Nightwing takes Batman's place at the terminal, connecting his glove directly into the powerful computer. He flicks open his wrist computer, and with a few twitches of his fingers he's able to activate a rough holographic representation of the multiverse; a grid of small blue orbs. Another flick highlights a series of the orbs in red. The orb on one end is green; on other end it's gold. Seeing how many Earths are now labeled in red reminds Dick of the seriousness of the situation and gives him the strength to resist the urge to add a 'You are Here' tag to the gold-tinted earth.  
  
 "This is the best way we've come up with to approximate the multiverse in three-dimensional space. Each sphere represents an earth in a different dimension. The Team dedicated a lot of man-hours to investigating the hundreds of the dimensions 'closest' to ours.” It was a tedious serious of stake-outs, but no one dared complain. Even those that had never known Wally knew how much this meant to the senior members of the Team.

 

“We came up with an algorithm to sort the dimensions based on where we believe the time stream deviated and how each dimension compares to its neighbors at the present point in time. This allowed us to create a grid of their relationships to one another. The green orb is where we believe the Anomaly first began its rampage. It's the site of the earliest chronological death of a Wally that we can't reasonably explain, at least.”

 

And they tried _so hard_ to explain it. Wally was just a kid in that universe. He wasn’t a Flash – there _wasn’t_ a Flash in that dimension, just a Barry Allen – but a cameraman for his Aunt. He should have been safe. What are the odds that he’d just _happen_ to stumble upon CitizenCold’s secret villainy? That the ‘hero’ would just _happen_ to catch him in his discover? Timmy, bless him, spent weeks recreating the events surround that Wally’s murder, and concluded that _something_ had to be pulling the strings; there were too many random variables for it to have coincided so nicely otherwise.

 

“That was about four years before Wally ceased in our universe."

Batman’s equivalent of a shocked gasp is a slight tightening of his fist. The leather creaks loudly in the otherwise quiet cave as the elder Bat realizes how big this really is, how far the odds are stacked against them....  
  
Dick swallows away the dryness in his throat and continues. "Chronologically, the Anomaly's path looks like this." A line connects the highlighted orbs, with dates attached. Most are short, connecting two adjacent earths. Towards the middle, though, the lines stretch, connecting earths that are further and further apart, even going straight through other earths. One line in particular jumbles the orderliness of it, jumping across several earths, only to immediately jump back to an earth that was adjacent to the previous one. The line continues through several more earths before re-intersecting the problem orb to reach the earth behind it. The twice-intersected earth is highlighted in purple.  
  
"At first the Anomaly seems to meander. It takes its time in each universe, doesn't attack very aggressively, and seems willing to go after Wally whether he's active or retired, young or old.  Around here," he gestures to an earth that's relatively close to the purple one, "it begins to move steadily closer to _our_ dimension." He indicates the purple orb this time. "Notice how it spends significantly less time in each universe, even leaving Wally alive in some of them in its hurry, hence the lines that seem to go through some of these earths.”

 

“It had a goal, a set endgame it was aiming for.”

 

“That’s what we think.”

 

“And this crisscrossed line?”

 

“Remember, this isn’t a perfect representation. We’ve been working under the assumption that it’s a fault of our model that the algorithm breaks down near our own universe. Dr. Palmer thinks it’s likely due to selective sampling.” Dick thinks the algorithm is wrong, but who is he to argue with the mathematical genius? His Mathlete days are long behind him. “Either way, we haven’t been able to improve upon it, and it seems accurate enough at a ‘distance’ from our home world that we just deal with it.”

 

“What happens if you remove your own world from the timeline?”

 

Dick’s fingers fly and his home world is removed from the sequence. Instantly, the line snaps into a semblance of a pattern. That area of the map is still subject to the occasional ‘skipped’ earth, but the crossed lines and doubling-back across several dimensions are gone. The implications of this are not ones Dick wants to deal with, so he tries to make a joke. The effort is weak.

 

“My scientific sensibilities are offended, Bats! I didn’t know you were one to just toss out data that doesn’t fit. I mean, it’s an outlier, but it’s still an Anomaly attack, and it might provide us with important clues into its M.O.”

 

“Is it an Anomaly attack, though?”

 

“Of course it is! What _else_ could set up conditions so perfectly to kill Wally?” He refuses to believe differently.

 

They had gotten rid of the Reach and the Light, and even most of Black Beetle’s doomsday devices. They had won. Yet one device just _happened_ to have been missed by Blue’s initial scan? And it just _happened_ to be in a stage where only speedsters could stop it? It also just _happened_ to have an energy field that’s too much for the faster speedsters and just _happened_ to spew enough energy to disintegrate Wally? It _had_ to have been the Anomaly. Wally isn’t that unlucky. He doesn’t _deserve_ to be that unlucky.

 

“Except that Wally isn’t dead.”

 

“I- He’s- But it’s…” Dick searches for the words, the logic that he’s been so secure in this whole time. Nothing comes.

 

He doesn’t want to believe this. It had been so... _convenient,_ to pinWally’s death on some depraved conspiracy rather than declare him an unfortunate casualty in their seemingly-eternal struggle with the Light’s greed. Because if it was the Anomaly’s fault, then there was nothing they could do. If it was really a coincidence that Wally’s sacrifice was needed… well. There are a thousand _what if’s_ that can plague his conscious – one for every mistake he can ever remember making – and any of them might have save his best friend.  
  
It’s probably not meant to be a kindness, but Dick appreciates it none the less when Bruce continues.

 

“So if we work under the assumption that the Anomaly isn’t responsible for Wally’s… relocation,” the man presses, “what do we still know?”

Dick takes a deep breath. Anomaly or not, Wally’s _alive._ They need to keep him that way.

 

“We know that the first ‘skipped’ earth is 18 before our own,” the translucent earth in question fades to an even lighter pink. “Assuming that our Wally wasn’t the Anomaly’s victim, and that it may have skipped our earth only because Wally was already gone, then the last skipped earth is two before our own in this sequence.”

 

“And the Anomaly begins moving at a statistically significant increase in rate four earths before the first skipped earth?” Batman clarifies.

 

“Yeah, although I need to re-run the numbers without our earth in the picture… huh.” Dick glares at the new numbers at the bottom of the projections, his Mathlete’s brain whirring at this new information. Batman finally says it out loud.

 

“Even without the strange jump, the Anomaly moves faster, on average, just before your home world than after it.”

 

“…Yeah.”  Years of ingrained training have him sorting this information, isolating the facts and patterns they can use from all of this. He mentally ticks off the clues they have, sure that Batman’s doing the same.

 

The Anomaly has _some_ sort of goal, even if they don’t understand yet. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have such conspicuous patterns of boredom, eagerness, and… vindictiveness, for lack of a better term. This implies that it has a certain consciousness, as well as the ability to plan.

 

The thing is probably not responsible for Wally’s original displacement, but it may have a special interest in destroying him, if the thing’s new delay tactics are anything to go by. Wally’s theory about being ‘the one that got away’ is reasonable enough to keep on the table.

 

The Anomaly is powerful enough to cross dimensions and take on the whole League if it wants, yet it’s only using that power to kill off the same person, over and over. This suggests a certain pettiness and short-sidedness that might be able to be exploited. Dick wishes this were a less common trait amongst villains so that they might be able to draw clues from it.

 

“There were no other patterns between the universes? Besides the ones you used to sort the grid?”

 

Dick resists the urge to roll his eyes. His own Bruce knows his training, and would never imply that he missed something so obvious. This one doesn’t though, so he plays along with the man’s overly thorough methods.

 

“What do you want me to say, Bats? That the average entropy in each universe visited by the Anomaly is greater than those it skipped? Although, now that I’ve said that, you could make a case for the chaos that always seems to follow Wally’s death…”  He trails off at the older hero’s stare. Okay, seriously. Someone needs to help this man feel the aster.

 

“What do you know about its physical capabilities?” Bruce has always been good about turning to the next route of inquiry when one runs into a temporary dead end, and at ignoring things he deems inanities. This Batman is obviously no different.

 

“Not as much as we thought, apparently.” Dick dismisses the holographic model moves into the data files on the Anomaly’s attacks. “Aside from its movement, there’s no clear pattern in methods or circumstances of the attacks, and you have the same data as we do, so you know we were as surprised as you were that it could and _would_ distract you guys from coming to Wally’s aid.”

 

“It’s _never_ interfered with a rescue before?”

 

“Well… not on this scale.”

 

“Elaborate.”

 

“I mean, it _is_ trying to kill Wally, after all. Of course it has to separate him from his allies sometimes. We’ve lost more than one Wally because we got separated from our principal and weren’t able to get back to him in time, or were too late to call each other for back up.”

 

He tries not to think his worst failure. Wally has always run ahead. It’s annoying, but not fatal… not usually. He should have kept up. He should have called his teammates sooner. _He should have saved Wally._

 

“…You’ve never had trouble jumping dimensions to help each other? As long as the call is actually sent out?”

 

Dick has to think for a minute. “No. We’ve always been able to get to Wally _if_ we receive the distress signal. We just usually lose once we’re actually there.”

 

“So what’s the difference between your team’s trans-dimensional technology and the League’s teleportation and Zeta networks?”

 

“Well, one works within a single plane of existence, and one crosses between those planes.” He’s not _trying_ to be cheeky; he knows this is serious. It’s just habit.

 

“The Anomaly is capable of pulling accomplices from adjacent universes; it should have no trouble delaying you from making the same jump. If it knows you’re coming.”

 

Dick catches on to the man’s meaning. “You think it can’t track our TD tech the same way it tracks League teleportation tech.”

 

“Exactly. What are the physical differences between the two?”

 

“Current League tech in most dimensions is of hybrid Kryptonian-Martian-Thanagarian make. It operates roughly along the same lines as the Zeta technology we use back home. Our TD tech is based on some more advanced New Genesis stuff, but it also has a magical component. Zatanna and Dr. Fate personally wove the spells that let us bridge between dimensions without risking trans-universal collapse.”

 

The thought that they were using magic to try and save Wally always made him feel like smiling. _Note to self, see how far Wally will go to try to explain our tech as pure science. Ensure video cameras have a clear view._

 

“So it could be the level of technology or a magical component that’s throwing off the Anomaly’s ability to detect it?”

 

“Or both.” The man is pulling up his own files now – of _course_ he’s already been through these scenarios – changing and adding to various sections of his notes. Dick takes the opportunity to browse the man’s suspect list. It’s extensive, ranging from ‘Alien Entity’ to ‘Circe’ to ‘Mythic Blob’ Dick has never even heard of half of the actual villains on the list. The Time Trapper?* Seriously? Who the heck is that?

 

He begins adding his own notes to Batman’s as they try to find their culprit, or, barring that, a strategy to deal with this menace. They’re falling into a rhythm, into that easy pattern Dick had always had with Bruce, even at the beginning. It’s comforting, in the face of all that’s been going on. Because, yeah, they have Wally back, but he’s starting to realize that just means they have so much more to lose.

 

He can’t… he can’t face that again. None of them can, really.

 

If they lose Wally now… he worries Artemis will go with him, whether by the Anomaly’s hand or her own. M’gann won’t cope well with losing Wally and her sister – _again._ Kaldur will withdraw into himself and stew in his own guilt like last time. Roy will probably stop visiting them again. Conner will try to hold everything together, but that’s never been his strong suit. Dick is so tired of watching his family crumble around him. The little boy inside of him is crying; he just wants his Dad to tell him everything’s going to be all right. He doesn’t realize what he’s saying until it’s too late.

 

“We’re going to save him this time, right Dad?”

 

He realizes his mistake as the word comes out of his mouth, but it’s too late too take it back. Batman freezes, but doesn’t turn around. Dick’s heart hammers in his chest; pain and embarrassment and exhaustion all twist up inside of him.

 

Finally, Batman speaks again. “It’s late, and we’re reaching the end of our resources. I’ll have Alfred make up a room for you, if you don’t care to return to the Watchtower so late.”

 

The man turns, and stalks off without another word. Dick’s stuck trying to decide if he needs to apologize.


	22. Conversations

Tonight, the nightmare that has been his companion for so long has changed.

It starts the same as always; Flash is murdered. It always begins thus, though the method is the one part that has some semblance of variety. Tonight is particularly gruesome; the speedster is eviscerated by a batarang-wielding android as the League watches on in horror. It’s only after the boy gasps his last shuddering breath that Clark finds the strength to break the iron grip of monkey robots that restrain them.

The android burns. The robots quickly follow suit. Bruce watches helplessly as his family loses themselves in their grief. Most nights he – barely – avoids following suit. However, is small comfort that Bruce sub-consciously believes he could resist that temptation. He has seen too many of his counterparts fall for him to be confident that he would not stand with the Lords.

Bruce’s real fear, though, comes from watching those counterparts that do resist.

That is this scenario that haunts his nights. To suddenly find Diana at his feet, the Batarang in her heart the reason for the blood on his hands. John is just to his side, gasping his last breath as he chokes on fear gas. Shayera is slumped on his other side, bleeding out from the sliced arteries in her broken wings. J’onn’s ashes crunch under his boots. Clark writhes in front of him, dying a slow, painful death from the Kryptonite Bruce shoved down his throat.

His head recites the numbers and says, ‘It’s better this way.’

His heart replies, ‘No, it’s not.’

Tonight, this is where things begin to change.

“Daddy?” A little boy in red, green and yellow stumbles upon the scene. Even through the child’s mask, it is clear his eyes are wide in shock… and fear. He gasps out, “What did you do?”

Bruce tries to explain himself. “I… I had to. They were going to… and in every universe that they do…”

The boy is still open mouthed, shaking his head. He’s denying Bruce the understanding and acceptance he so desperately needs. “But… but they’re your family.”

“I know… I- I was just-“ He takes a step forward, reaching out to the boy. The child steps back the same distance, hands raised as if to ward off some great evil.

“No. Please! Stay away! Don’t hurt me too!” He’s moving away faster, half turned to run from the imposing Dark Knight. Bruce is faster though. He catches the boy by the arm and pulls him into a tight embrace.

“I won’t, Robin. I’ll protect you. I-“ The bundle in his arms shrieks in pain and Bruce pulls back. The boy’s skin is red and blistering everywhere he’s been touched. As Bruce watches, the burns deepen and the boy begins to dissolve into ash.

The boy’s screams ease enough for him to turn to Bruce and ask through his tears, “Why would you do this to me?”

Bruce can’t help but scream as his son dissolve before him; even the ash is blown from between his fingers.

A hand lands on his shoulder. “Wow, Bats. You really do kill everything you love.” Wally’s looking down at him with a cheeky grin. His voice is as upbeat as it always is. “You’re not going to save me, are you? You’re not going to save anything.” 

It’s then that Bruce notices the scarlet-clad corpse behind Wally, as well as his own lack of armor. Wally smirks. The hand on his shoulder moves with super-speed to backhand him. Bruce lands in the pool of his friends’ blood, and Wally-but-it-can’t-be saunters over to him. “You’re going to lose this one, Bats,” the thing hisses as its features distort, fading to black and red, “and it will cost you everything.”

“No.” Bruce denies, struggling as the monster pins him. His vision is fading out, his struggles slowing, but still he won’t accept the things words. “No. No, no, no, no, no!”

“Bruce! Wake up! It’s okay, it was just a nightmare!” He finds himself wrapped in a tight embrace. His so- Nightw- Di- The boy is holding him tight, rubbing circles on his back as if he were a child. He must have been the one to wake Bruce up. Bruce pulls his presence of mind together enough to push the other man away. 

“Do you need something?”

Furrowed eyebrows obscure bright blue eyes in the boy’s confusion (and that’s too close to shock, too close to fear). “Wha- no! No. I just heard you struggling when I got up to get some water. It seemed unkind to leave you suffering.”

That’s… reasonably plausible. Bruce can allow this. Put it down to the boy’s general kindness. Then he doesn’t feel obligated to reciprocate; he doesn’t have to care… “You did not need to embrace me.” He responds gruffly.

The boy protests. “But hugs are good for you! They’re clinically proven to chase away nightmares.” The younger man crosses his arms and nods his head as if he were dispensing very serious wisdom for the ages. When Bruce doesn’t acknowledge the boy’s antics, he stops, shooting the older man a sympathetic look instead. “It’s okay. My Bruce took a while to get used to them too. But I promise you’ll sleep better!”

That’s too far for Bruce. There is not going to be ‘a while’ of hugs and he will not ‘get used’ to them. The younger man has supposedly been working with Batman for years; he should recognize when he’s not wanted. 

Because it’s not like Bruce liked the hug. It’s not like being saved from his nightmares was nice. It’s not like he need or wants a family.

Why doesn’t the boy understand that?

“Was there anything else?”

“Do you want to talk about it? The nightmare?”

“I would rather sleep than waste time with pointless inanities.” He grits out. “Perhaps you should return to your room?” 

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Get. Out.” Batman’s command makes the younger man flinch back. It has to be Batman, now, because Bruce fears he would break under that wounded blue gaze if he didn’t have the vigilante’s cool logic to hold on to.

“Right,” The boy whispers, sliding off the bed. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.” He says over his shoulder as he shows himself out.

Finally alone, Bruce slumps back into his bed. He can feel the emotions trying to break through to the surface, so he clings to Batman’s strength and recites case files to himself until he falls asleep.

The nightmare is back. Wally’s dead. Clark’s dead. Diana, J’onn, Shayera, and John, dead. Nightwing – Dick – is dead. The dream is stopped there though. There’s a whisper of a lullaby in a language his brain says is Romani. He’s aware enough to feel something warm wrap around him, though his mind settles back into sleep without even returning to full consciousness.

He sleeps peacefully through the night this time.

XxXxX

Conner has been across the stars and across dimensions, but he has never found a better place for moon-gazing than the roof of the Kent family barn.

“I thought I might find you here.”

Clark’s head pokes over the side of the roof, and Conner doesn’t call the man on his ability to find him instantly with x-ray vision. Clark always forgets about those things when he’s being Clark rather than Superman, doing things the old-fashioned way instead. 

He makes no move to come closer, so Conner holds out his hand, inviting Clark onto the roof. Clark takes it, accepting the help up, as if he wasn’t floating just below the roof’s edge out of courtesy.

“It’s, like, three-thirty in the morning. Why were you looking?”

Clark grins and rubs at the back of his neck. “Ma said you weren’t in bed when she went to check on you, and wanted me to look for you.”

“I’m in my twenties! Or my teens, depending on how you count my age… Either way, I’m not even her kid!” Conner says with exasperation.

Clark chuckles. “True, but she’s a mom. You just sort of have to go with it. I mean, she still checks on me in the middle of the night. Me.” Conner can’t help but return Clark’s grin.

“That is funny.”

“Maybe we’ll understand if we ever get to be parents.”

“Never going to happen for you.” The banter falls out of his mouth is so easily. More easily than he ever could have dreamed in those first months after Cadmus. “At least, not if you’re anything like my brother. Years he’s been working with Lois, and he still can’t man up enough to ask her on out when he’s not wearing the cape.” Conner does not miss the Man of Steel’s blush. “Oh, Rao! You’re the same, aren’t you? Poor Ma’s never getting grandkids. No wonder she has to check up on us.”

Clark tries to defend himself. “Well, I doubt your Ma’s prospects look any better!”

“Actually, they’re light-years better than yours. If M’gann and I ever get to spend more than a few days together in the same dimension, I’m more than ready to pop the question. J’onn briefed me on Martian bonding customs and Pa helped me pick out a ring an everything.” 

Clark watches the younger Kryptonian. His face is wistful, and Clark’s heart aches a little for his younger brother’s pain. “You all really put your lived on hold for this mission, didn’t you?”

Conner shrugs. “I guess. Our lives were all pretty screwed up by the invasions anyways.” That’s an understatement I fther ever was one. Artemis and M’gann were declared dead. Kaldur was outcast from Atlantis. Dick gave up everything, from his dreams to his loved ones, so earth could pull through the invasions. The others lost everything that wasn’t the team. Of course, Conner’s whole life has been the team from day one. “It’s not really a big deal in the scheme of things. We’ve all died for less.”

That gets Clarks attention. “You’ve all died?” 

Tried to, more than once. But Conner can’t say that. Instead, he backtracks.

“We didn’t actually die. Our minds just sort of… thought we did. It was just bad luck that our bodies tried to follow suit.”

Clark is still looking at him like he’s sprouted a second head, so he tries to explain. About watching their mentors and family die, one by one. About taking the burden of saving the world upon themselves. About sacrificing their lives – whether willingly, under orders, or because of deception – for what turned out to be pointless resistance.

“That’s cruel. How could your League have done that to- to a group of children?” Clark wants to hug his little brother. No. He wants to throttle this other League. To put these bright, happy kids through every Leaguer’s nightmare… to make them live it... He can’t imagine what they were thinking. Why didn’t someone stop them? It’s amazing Wally – and his friends – are able to be happy at all. 

Or maybe they’re not. Maybe they were just trained at such a young age that they’re better at keeping up the act, like the good little soldiers the League wanted them to be.

Clark feels sick.

Conner doesn’t seem to share any of his turmoil, though. He just shrugs. “Sometimes the League makes mistakes.”

He wants to disagree – they were children, after all – but Conner’s face is open and kind. The younger Kryptonian bears no ill will towards his mentors. Clark thinks of disarmed nukes allowing invasion, of fighting with innocent Captain Marvel, and of weapons built into the Watchtower firing on civilians, and finds he can’t quite blame his counterpart without facing his own guilt. He can allow himself to watch the younger heroes closely, though. He owes them that much.

“You’re still frowning. Don’t hold that against them, Clark. They’re not bad people.”

“I know, I know. It’s just… interesting how different things can be between universes.”

“No kidding. Your Lex Luthor seems psycho.” The words come out before Conner really thinks about them. It’s one of the things he was up here to contemplate, after all.

“Yours isn’t?”

“…He’s not all bad.”

“Seriously? You’re going to stand up for Lex Luthor?”

“Look, I know Lex isn’t a good person. He’s a pretty bad one, actually, and I’ll never forgive him for the things he’s put my friends through… but he’s not a complete monster. He’s… he’s human, you know?” Conner knows he should stop there, but the pressure in his chest wants him to continue so much… so he does. “And… despite everything, he’s still the first person that reached out and tried to be my dad it.” 

This time it’s Clark’s turn to tense up. How could he say that about Lex Luthor?

Conner hurries to explain. “Look. I know Lex isn’t good at it, especially when he’s following his own agenda, but he does try care for me. In his own way.”

“When I graduated high school? I got a Lex Corp scholarship offer the day after getting my Ivy University acceptance letter, without any application. When I got captured by the Reach? He organized an unnecessary rescue party for me as part of his scheme to take War World for the Light. When Apokalips invaded? The troops at my insertion point were the only ones without Kryptonite weapons. And every year, six weeks before the Fourth of July, expensive gifts show up at the League’s hideout du jour with cards wishing me a happy birthday.”

“That must give Batman an aneurism.”

“Probably. Although with Batman, it’s hard to tell if he’s having a stroke or just trying to emote.” Clark can’t help but chuckle at that statement. It’s not completely untrue. Still, though.

“Gifts don’t make someone a good person.

“I’m not saying he’s a good person!” Clark flinches back at Conner’s vehemence, but the boy has already turned apologetic. “I’m sorry.”

“No. I’m sorry. I’ve obviously hit a nerve.” Ma always berates him for his stubbornness. He knows what his hatred of Lex Luthor could do, if it got out of hand. He knows he needs to control it. Yet here this amazing boy is, wrestling with his own demons while still trying to explain thigns to him, and Clark won’t even hear him out. “Please, continue.” 

Conner is hesitant, but after a moment he nods. “I guess… the best comparison I have is with Kaldur. Black Manta did everything he could for his son. Defended him from other members of the Light, called in in all sorts of favors to heal his mind, always made sure his men used non-lethal force against him… Kaldur ultimately couldn’t side with him, of course, but it still hurt both of them when that turned out to be the case.” 

If there’s anything he’s learned from seeing Artemis, from Kaldur… from Cam, it’s that Dads can be evil and still care for their kids. Finding that it might apply to himself turned out to be the harder lesson. “The thing is… I’m pretty sure Lex would do the same for me.”

“Mmm.” Clark agrees, remembering his last heart-to-heart with his parents, discussing the blacks, whites and grays of morality. Was that only a week ago? So much has happened in that time. Clark has a wistful-looking little brother sitting next to him to prove it. “Do you care for him back?”

“…I don’t want to.”

“That’s not a no.”

“Look, I’m trying, okay?” Conner turns on him again. “Don’t I keep saying I know he’s a bad person? I mean, he got Wally killed! …Except that he didn’t.” Conner curls in on himself a little at the last admission, and Clark realizes what the real problem here is.

“And that changes everything, doesn’t it?”

“Yes! Because killing Wally was that final, unforgiveable straw. I could finally say that Lex was irredeemable and that I shouldn’t bother with him. That you and Ma and Pa are enough family. That he can’t possibly be good, so I shouldn’t want him in my life…”   
Conner trails off, not wanting to go too far. This is not the kind of thing he’s willing to cry over. Not when their lives are filled with so many real problems… It still hurts though.

Clark shifts closer so he can throw an arm around the smaller Kryptonian. He doesn’t have words – he is not ready to stand up for Lex Luthor, but he can’t dismiss his brother’s pain off hand either – so they just sit there, watching the nighttime sky. It’s so peaceful that Clark wished it were under better circumstances.

“Sorry for dumping all this on you.” Conner mumbles after a while. It’s more than audible to Kryptonian ears. “Normally I’d work this out with Dinah or M’gann, but with everything that’s been going on… this has been my first chance to really breathe since we got Wally back.” Clark gives him another squeeze at that. With his real strength, for once. It’s nice.

“It’s no problem,” Clark says sincerely. “Isn’t that what big brothers are for?”

“My Clark says big brothers are for making little siblings do their chores and eat their vegetables.”

“Wise words. Think Kara would believe them?”

“Only if this world has weirder things happening than Lex Luthor having a heart.” Conner’s smile is weak, but Clark returns it anyways, in the kindest way he can.

“True, true. You ready to get off this roof? Ma’ll have a fit if we’re not in bed by the time she checks on us again.”

“Yeah. Help me down?”

“Of course.” Clark and Conner slip back into the house without further ceremony. Clark listens to Conner’s breathing even out as the boy falls asleep. It takes him much longer to follow suit. His mind is racing with this new perspective of his arch-nemesis, and how it fits into Wally’s death and the Question’s doomsday predictions. He has a lot to think about.

For now, though, he can just tries to enjoy being home with his family, because having a little brother might be better than he ever dreamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know why this is a big deal to me, but it is. According to Askgreg, Spitfire’s dog is named Bruce. *Head canon destroyed. Please wait for reboot.* Okay. Here’s what happened. They’re both on Wayne Scholarships to Standford, so they named him Bruce in B’s honor. Yeah…. Well, gotto go fix ‘Adaptations….’


	23. Integration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure how I feel about this chapter. I loved it when I wrote it… back around chapter two. Now that I’ve revised the heck out of it to fit the fact that it’s chapter 18 instead of 8… I dunno. What do y’all think?

It takes them only moments to reach his rooms, once she mentions that _both_ of them are capable of density shifting. He hides his reaction well, but even without her empathy she can see how startled he was by that reminder. It makes her curious. Who is this man with her Uncle’s mindscape but not his mind?

 

Though M’gann doesn’t dare intrude _into_ her counterpart Uncle’s mind, she can’t restrain herself from feeling _around_ it. The unique undercurrent of loneliness and sadness that pervades his feelings, despite the surface calm, fascinates her. She wants so much to soothe the hurt in the mind that feels so much like her Uncle’s. She instinctively grabs his arm and leans in closer to him. He flinches, but doesn’t try to shake her off. Again, her interest is piqued. What has he been through that such casual gestures are surprising?

 

“These are my rooms,” he says somewhat hesitantly when they arrive. He seems unsure of what to do now.

 

“I see what you mean about the shielding.” She tries to assuage his self-consciousness. “It’s so… quiet here.”

 

He nods his head in assent.

 

“Can… can we meditate now? I’ve missed your guidance _so_ much since we started this whole dimension-hopping thing.”

 

“You would like me to join you? Truly?”

 

“If you don’t mind, of course.” She clarifies, remembering that this is not _her_ uncle, and that she shouldn’t be so familiar with him just because he’s been kind to her thus far. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

 

“I do not mind.” He cuts her off. No, J’onn does not mind this at all. He too, has missed partnered meditation. His mind has been empty of all but his own thoughts for so long… He’s somewhat embarrassed of how out of practice he is, actually. “I might be more of a hindrance than a help, actually. It has been _many_ Mars cycles since I have last meditated with another.”

 

She backpedals as his grief surges. “I’m so sorry, Unc- J’onn. I didn’t mean to-”

 

“It is not your fault, M’gann.” He soothes her worries. He tries not to dwell on how his heart skipped when she began to call him Uncle. “I am pleased to meet you, and proud to know how my kin might have turned out.”

 

She drops her eyes at that, ashamed at the regard he has for her. It’s one thing for the Team – her family – to forgive her. For this man – the counterpart to the loving Uncle whose kindness she’ll never be able to repay, despite his protests to the contrary – to admire her is too much.

 

She replies in his mind out of reflex. _‘You think too highly of me, J’onn.’_

_‘I doubt that is true.’_

A sort of bitter disagreement swells through the link from her side. ‘ _That is because you do not know me. You do not know the mistakes I’ve made.’_

 

_‘Everyone makes mistakes. I myself have a fair share.’_

_‘Few as egregious as mine, I am sure.’_

_‘I would like to be the judge of that myself.’_

She hesitates. ‘ _If I show you, it’s only fair that you return the favor.’_

_‘…If that is the price you ask for knowing you, I will gladly pay it.’_

She nods, and allows him to take her hands in his. They sit cross-legged, quickly floating off the ground as if this were any other meditation, only they hover right across from each other. With one last confirmation that _yes, this is okay_ , they both lean in and touch their foreheads together.

 

Their minds meld.

_XxXxX_

_They’re not expecting it._

She should have been expecting it.

_He hadn’t been paying attention, simply enjoying an evening picnic with his wife on their balcony. Mars has been at peace for so long that they don’t immediately understand what’s happening when fire rains down upon them._

She hadn’t been paying attention, just following silently behind her sisters as always. This area has been segregated long enough that she should have known better than to enter.

_He’s pulling his wife inside, scooping up their daughter._

She’s pulled roughly outside and thrown down onto the ground.

 

_His daughter is crying, and he holds her tight as they wait for the next explosion. When he glances at his wife, he sees fear. He can’t hold her gaze, and looks away._

Her sisters have noticed the commotion now; how she’s waiting for another blow, another taunt. They look away, embarrassed of her.

 

_They wait out the first attack in their basement, and survive the retreat to the city’s center._

 

She can only wait for her attackers to tire of this so she can retreat to the city center, where all colors are allowed.

 

_They say things can’t get any worse, but it gets harder to believe that every time._

 

She tries to remember that she’s more than the color of her skin, but it’s harder to believe that every time.

 

_The invaders have learned to shape-shift, and people are on edge. You can’t trust anyone anymore. They develop passwords and codes as they learn to always ask who people are._

 

She’s learned how to patch herself up; it’s better than feeling the shame in her family’s mind when she come home in such a state. This way, her mother doesn’t ask, and her sisters don’t have to tell.

 

_Their measures fail. Their camp is infiltrated. They are betrayed._

 

She’s too used to this treatment to even feel betrayed.

 

_It gets worse. Bloody battles rage. His family is in danger. They need to leave._

 

Things get worse. Racial tensions are high. Her family is uncomfortable with her. She needs to leave.

 

_He makes contacts with others who are fleeing. It will be a fight, but it’s his only chance to get his family out._

 

She sneaks aboard her Uncle’s ship to earth. It will be a fight to convince him of her worth, but it’s her only chance to get away from _this_.

 

_It is not as hard as it should be, to become violent. To fight back. To kill._

 

It is harder than it should be, to understand the rules that go with being a part of the League.

 

_He’s lost contact with many of his old friends, but he has found new ones along the way._

 

She doesn’t keep in contact with her family. The Team is her family now.

_The invaders keep coming, and the Martians fall one by one._

The invasion comes in their minds, and the League falls one by one _._

_“My’ria’h!”_

“Artemis!”

_His wife is gone; their daughter falls soon after. There is not hope for Mars now. He has nothing left to lose when he joins the resistance for one final, desperate assault._

Artemis is gone, then Kaldur. They pin their hopes on Wally’s Zeta Beam theory. When he’s wrong, there is nothing left to lose. At least he and Robin go down fighting together.

_They win. Their plan worked and the invaders are all paralyzed._

They win. The mother ship is destroyed.

 

_The cost was too high._

The cost was too high.

 

_He wishes it was a nightmare._

 

It hurts, even though it was a nightmare.

_He guards them, to keep them from hurting others._

She will protect them, and they will keep saving others.

 

_Time passes slowly. His people and world are dead; he’s left only with his stagnant tormentors._

 

Time passes quickly. The Team and the world seem to be changing too fast.

 

_The invaders manage to leave their prison. He has no choice but to follow. He talks these other heroes into helping him, and he leads them into the fight._

 

Wally decides to leave the team. Artemis chooses to follow. Dick tries to talk them out of it, and it turns into a fight.

 

_They form a League and vow to protect this planet. Even Batman is willing to leave his preferred isolation for them. They are aliens, demigods and even simple humans, but they learn to fight as one. J’onn won’t know until later that he was watching his family come together._

 

Zatanna and Raquel join the Justice League. Kaldur becomes withdrawn after Tula’s death. One by one, her teammates are leaving, quitting, even dying. Her heart breaks as she watches her family fall apart.

 

_Things get harder and Flash becomes their precious light. One day, they learn just how mortal he is. J’onn can’t stop his other self. ‘They’re just bad guys,’ the Lords say, ‘their lives are worth nothing for peace.’_

 

Conner is her one rock through it all, but now he’s threatening to leave her too. She can’t stop what she’s doing though. They’re just bad guys. Their minds are worth nothing next to her family.

 

_Batman has an idea, as always. It will be a hard fight, though, with so many of them outmatched by their counterparts. It would be simpler if they just end the Lords permanently. It would solve so many of their problems._

 

She has an idea. Conner just needs to forget he was mad at her and then everything will be okay again. It would be such a simple thing, really, and it would solve so many of her problems….

 

_It’s a line he can’t bear to cross._

 

She crosses the line.

 

_They’ve won. He never thought Superman would turn to Lex Luthor of all people, but it worked. The team becomes closer in their victory. He hasn’t felt this connected since he was back on Mars._

 

She’s ruined everything. He’ll never forgive her, never love her again. She realizes she has no one to turn to. Not with the Team so distant nowadays. She’s hasn’t felt this alone since she was back on Mars.

 

_How dare Shayera betray them. They were supposed to be family. Instead, she brought invaders to their door._

How dare Kaldur betray them. They were supposed to be family. Instead, he killed their sister.

 

_But apparently they_ were _her family, and she came back to them. “I know what they’re going to do.”_

 

But apparently they _were_ his family; he had never left them. “What have you done?”

 

_They manage to stop them. Together._

 

We can still fix this. Symbiosi.

 

_It’s hard, after the Invasion. Shayera’s gone, and they’ll never be the same again._

 

It’s hard, after the Invasion. Wally’s gone, and they’ll never be the same again.

 

_But life goes on. With the threat of other invasions hanging over their heads, they expand the League, even though it increases the risk of betrayal._

 

Life goes on, and with the threat of the Light hanging over their heads, M’gann returns to her home world with her beloved in a desperate gamble for allies.

 

“ _J’onn. We need to talk.”_

 

“Conner, we need to talk.”

 

_“I need to apologize. For lying. For betraying the League. For letting you down.”_

 

“I need to apologize. For lying. For betraying your trust. For trying to alter your mind.”

 

_“I know I can’t make up for it. But even so, I’m rejoining the League. You all are my family and I want protect you. So it doesn’t happen again.”_

 

“I know I can’t make up for it, but there are priests on Mars who can ward your mind, teach you to feel and eject intrusions. You mean so much to me, and I want you to be able to stop me so I can’t do it again, even if I wanted to.”

 

_“I forgive you. Isn’t that what family does?”_

 

“I forgive you. I… I still love you, you know.”

 

_Shayera is back. They are whole for the time being._

 

Dick comes back, but they aren’t whole. Yet.

 

_Wally’s missing, maybe dead, and there’s nothing they can do to save him._

 

Something’s trying to kill Wally in every dimension. Are you up to try and save him?

_Their Wally is returned, but it turns out he’s not, in fact, theirs. His old team is here to save him. It changes everything._

 

Yes. Yes it does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I officially fail at consistency. Confrontations- no quotes on thought speech. Realizations- double quotes. Here- single quotes. Whoops. I just don’t have it in me to go back and change it though.


	24. Interlude- Damian Wayne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sorry, I know y'all don't like interludes as much, but they're better than nothing, right? And they're so much easier for me. When I'm stuck or time crunched, I just pick a character and write. Hopefully this will tide you over for next week.

Interlude: Damian Wayne

XxXxX

"You're not in charge of me, Drake!"

"Yes. I. Am." Tim is tired of this argument. Can't Damian just accept a 'no' for once? With the Team's founders gone, he has to keep on top of about ten things at any given moment. He hardly even has time for  _Cassie_ anymore, much less this. He has more important things to do than argue with his younger brother  _again._  "You are a member of this team, and Aqualad made me leader-"

"Tt. As if that moping Atlantean could give you any power over me."

Tim clamps down on his outrage at that, and tries to channel Nightwing's calm reasonability. "B and Nightwing both support me in this," he grits out.

Damian looks away, domino mask furrowing. "Then Father can tell me that himself. I'll follow  _his_ orders."

Red Robin's voice follows him as he stalks towards the zeta tubes. "Impudent brat. Don't know  _why_ Dick puts up with you…"

Damian's ears aren't burning at that. They're  _not._  It's the residual numbness from Zeta Particles, or something. The Replacement would probably be able to explain it to him, should Damian feel the information is important enough to condescend to the hyperactive speedster's level.

A voice calls out as he stalks into the Batcave's main area. "Whoa. Who're you going to kill  _this_ time?"

"As ever, Todd, your nonsensical attempts at humor fall flat." Damian scoffs at the former Robin sitting at the Batcave's mainframe. He's most likely studying case data again, trying to put together the years he lost between his death and resurrection.

Red Hood just rolls his eyes at the younger Wayne's disrespect. He's faced far too much in life to be riled up buy such little things. No, his irritation is reserved for his absent big brother only. "Right. I'll make sure Tim locks his door tonight."

Damian doesn't respond. He has more important things to do than rise to Todd's goading.

Drake denied his request to be added to the Anomaly Mission. Again.

As if some third-stringer who  _stalked_  his way into the family had the right to tell him 'no'. Damian is an Al Guhl! The grandson of Ra's al Ghul himself. He's a Wayne! Batman's  _biological_ son. He was bred for greatness.

He knows he's living up to his legacy too; he's hacked the Team's records often enough to know that he's excelling at every solo evaluation that's been thrown at him.

That's why he knows it's not his abilities keeping him off this mission. ' _You have school,'_ Father says. ' _Be a kid; spend time with the Team!'_ Nightwing says.

Well, come summer neither Father nor Grayson could pin him with the responsibilities of 'school' and 'maintaining cover.' He's already drafted documents for a fake summer camp, to strengthen his argument on that front. And if they put him on this mission, he will be spending time with the Team. Well, some of them.

Of course, if his guardians remain obstinate, he's not above holding the replacement Kid Flash at sword point and forcing him make Damian his own TD tech. It shouldn't have to come to that though.

Damian always has a back-up plan, especially when dealing with a team leader that is as determined to restrict him as Drake is.

The newest Robin is nothing if not a good manipulator, and he's been twisting the knife of guilt into Allen's back for months now.

 _They're out there risking their lives for analogues of_ your _cousin. The one that_ you _let die. The one_ you  _got killed?_

 _What would_ Wally _say, if he knew that you were safe at home while his own girlfriend and best friend risked their lives? He would be so disappointed in his baby cousin, wouldn't he? And after he gave the little replacement his mantle and everything…_

 _He might not be_ that _upset though. The older heroes are keeping us out of it, after all. There's no way for us to sneak across dimensions. It's not like you have the capability to create your own TD tech. Oh wait._

Artemis' disappearance couldn't have come at a better time. Damian hammered it in especially hard during that tense fortnight, finally breaking the speedster upon the good news of her safety. The boy had been forced to hide out at Artemis' apartment, returning only at the behest of the Beetle (and that was another issue he must contend with; the insect insisted on worrying for Bart's safety, as if that was what was important here).

To Damian, this was proof that the Replacement was broken, and that it should take only a few more cracks to have Allen working at his behest.

"Damian."

His father interrupts his thoughts as he steps out of grandfather clock that hides the Batcave. Damian turns and gives the man the full attention he demands. He tries to ignore the increasingly sharp lines and the dark circles around his father's eyes. They're due to extra stress from Drake and Todd's incompetence, no doubt.

"Yes, Father?"

The man peers at him for a moment before saying, "You should be nicer to your brothers."

Damian wants to protest – they're not his brothers – but the tension in his Father's face is too reminiscent of that in Grayson's. The retort dies on his tongue. Damian isn't some backwards commoner; he refuses to add stress to his Father's load the way the Reds insist on doing. He nods in acquiescence.

"As you say, Father." His father continues to study him. It makes Damian uncomfortable.

"We all miss him too, you know." Bruce finally says.

Damian denies it automatically. "I don't know what you're talking about." Even though he does. Isn't that the whole reason he wants on the Anomaly mission? So he can bring Grayson home?

"Don't give me that, Damian. You're too smart to be 'playing dumb.' It doesn't work for you the way 'Brucie' works for me."

It takes Damian a moment to realize that it wasn't a put down – the type of comment he's most used to. His father just  _complemented_ him, and he did it so casually, like it was natural...

There's a warm tingle in his stomach, the same as when Grayson holds him tight and calls him 'little brother.' Damian likes it. "I'll endeavor not to have 'ditzy playboy' as my cover role when I grow up, then." He retorts dryly, keeping that spark of joy out of his voice.

Bruce half-smiles at Damian's joke. Damian doesn't move as the man stands up and give him a hug. He endures the embrace for his Father's [ _Peace of Mind_](http://store.tcgplayer.com/Products.aspx?GameName=Magic&Name=Peace%20of%20Mind&partner=AUTOANY). Said peace has been increasingly fragile as worry for his eldest son had increasingly disturbed Bruce's sleep.

"I remember when Dick was this size. You all grow up so fast. What am I going to do when you get older and go off on your own too?"

"Taking Oracle's position so I can operate as Batman in full most logical."

"There is that, I suppose." Bruce chuckles, and finally releases his son. "Go on now, do whatever you were doing. Don't let this old man's musings weigh you down."

Damian nods, and takes his leave of the den. He's more convinced than ever that he needs to be put on the Anomaly mission.

 _Do you know what you're doing to us, Grayson? How much we love you, even if we're too broken to say it? Those imposter speedsters don't deserve you. Aren't_ we _your family?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I am so interested to know what you think here. I felt bad because a) Damian isn't technically from either of YJ or JLU's continuity and b) I've never read his comics, only fan fics with him in it. How did I do? Is he too OOC, considering how YJ differs form the Batman main timeline? Do you understand what's going on here, even if you're not familiar with Damian as a character?


	25. Salutations

_‘Good morning, Uncle J’onn.’_

 

J’onn’s known her for less than twenty-four hours, and already having her in his mind feels normal.

 

_‘Good Morning to you, M’gann. You rested well?’_

_‘You know I did.’_

He does. After their stressful meditation last night, they had remained mentally close, even sharing dreams once they had finally fallen asleep. J’onn makes a mental note to see if _Hello Megan!_ ever broadcast in this universe. The way his niece dreamed about it makes it seem… charming.

 

Their link shifts and it takes him a moment to realize why. She’s pulled her teammates – the ones that remain on the Watchtower, anyways – into the background. It is a testament to their newfound closeness that J’onn is not even surprised by this instinctive action. He _knows_ how close they are, now. Unlike with him and the League, it’s not a breech of privacy for _them._

 

It’s pleasant to have so many people in his mind again. She mentally grins at his appreciation.

 

_Your teammates are not morning people._ It’s not a question. He feels like he knows them almost as well as M’gann does, now. _It might be a while before the awake. Would you like to get breakfast and then I can show you around the Watchtower?_

She moves physically this time, pulling him into a big hug. _I would love that! Thank you!_

He thinks, to himself this time, _I will love it more._

 

XxXxX

 

Kaldur smiles even before he is completely awake.

 

He smiles even though he hurts, even though there’s still a dull ache in his torso. It doesn’t matter, because he remembers _why_ he was injured. Wally is alive.He’s alive and he’s here, and Kaldur’s family is as whole as it’s ever going to be. For the first time in years,Kaldur is at peace with himself.

 

He doesn’t have Wally’s blood on his hands.

 

He allows himself to dwell on that selfish thought for only a moment before releasing it. There are better things to think of than the lessening of his own guilt. The bounce that has been long absent from Dick’s step, for one. Artemis openly and honestly _smiling_ for another.

 

They’re going to be okay.

 

Beyond that wonderful understanding, it takes Kaldur a moment to gather himself due to the drugs that are hazing his thought. M’gann must be nearby, given the hum in the back of his mind, although the link isn’t fully open to him. How wonderfully strange to have the buzz of Wally’s thoughts intrude upon his own once more!

 

Mentally oriented, Kaldur braces himself and opens his eyes. This is definitely a hospital. More precisely, Kaldur seems to be in one of the medical bays on a watchtower. Good. That matches his hazy memories from… last night?

 

Yes. Conner and Dick seem to be absent from the link – didn’t they leave with their mentor’s counterparts? – so they likely haven’t yet returned to the Watchtower. Wally’s mind exudes the peacefulness that comes with a deep sleep, while Artemis and M’gann’s presences are more defined; they must be awake. It’s probably only the next morning then.

 

A polite cough alerts him to the fact that he’s not alone.

 

“Good morning, Wonder Woman.”

 

“As Wally’s brother-in-arms, you needn’t be so formal with me, Aqualad. Call me Diana.”

 

“Diana, then. If you would please call me Kaldur in return – all of my friends do.”

 

The Amazon smiles at him. “I would be honored to count myself among that circle.”

 

“As I am honored by your presence.” Kaldur replies smoothly. Formal pleasantries have always been his forte. It is fortunate that one who understands such things greets him.

“The doctors are tell me your recovery rate is quite impressive. They say you’re essentially healed already, although they still want to keep you for observation for a few days.”

Kaldur frowns. There’s far too much at stake for him to be sidelined for mere ‘observation.’ His Team needs him. Perhaps he could find a way to get cleared without insulting their kindness in treating him…?

 

Diana chuckles. “Wally gets that exact same look when he’s planning how to bust out of here.”

 

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful in the face of your generosity…” The Amazon waves off his apologies.

 

“I know. I figured you would feel that way though. I’m here to spring you before you sneak out on your own. Medical will release you if I ask them to.”

 

 “I can’t imagine anyone denying _you,”_ Kaldur agrees with appreciation. “Thank you.”

 

She moves to help him up. “You’re most welcome, Kaldur. I… I look forward to getting to know the rest of Wally’s family.”

 

This time, he can return her smile. “I feel the same way.”

 

XxXxX

 

“Y’all stay safe now!”

 

“Yes Ma’am.” Conner accepts yet another hug from his Ma’s counterpart as he and Clark step out onto the front porch. It was wonderful to spend the night with a semblance of his family – and even more wonderful to wake up to apple cinnamon pancakes that are _exactly_ like his Ma makes – but it’s time for them to get back to the Watchtower. Conner moves to shake Jonathan Kent’s hand, but the older man just pulls him into a hug of his own.

 

“I remember when Clark was your size. I miss being bigger than my Boy.”

 

“You’re just mad I don’t have to conspire with you to reach the cookie jar anymore.”

 

“I miss out on so many sweets nowadays…” The family laughs at Jonathan’s teasingly heartbroken expression.

 

“You take care of him, now, Clark.” Martha says, kissing her son on the cheek.

 

“I will, Ma,” Clark swears sincerely, “I promise.”

 

“And come back and visit!” Even Kara, who will see the other two Kryptonians later at the Watchtower, came out to say goodbye. To Conner she says, “I’m not done with you yet! There’s still so much trouble we could cause Clark, am I right?”

 

Conner grins at his ‘cousin.’ “Most definitely.”

 

“Now we’re definitely leaving, before you two can _really_ plot against me.” Clark shakes his head. He and Conner giver everyone a final round of hugs, then he grabs his ‘brother’ and takes off. Hopefully, the rest of their family is doing just as well.

 

XxXxX

 

“I think the watchtower needs to be disinfected. I’ve acquired a limpet over night,” Artemis says when Shayera knocks on her door.

 

Shayera wonders why the younger woman is still in her sleep things even though her eyes are bright enough to suggest she’s been up for some time now. It only takes a moment for her to realize why the blonde hasn’t yet changed. A pair of arms is wrapped tightly around Artemis’ torso. When she leans slightly to look around the woman, Shayera can that those arms belong to Wally. He’s buried his face in Artemis’ back and is leaning on her for support. He presses in closer to Artemis when the Amazon’s movements cause more light to flood in from the corridor.

 

“Whos’air? S’too bright,” he murmurs. Artemis shakes her head in amusement, mussing the golden locks caught between her back and her boyfriend’s face. Shayera can’t help but smile at the two.

 

“And people say _I’m_ not a morning person,” Artemis huffs.

 

“It’s _barely_ morning,” Shayera feels compelled to add. “How are you still tired?”

 

“Din’t sleep good.”

 

Shayera rolls her eyes and returns her attention to Artemis. “Right. Well, I came to see if I could call in that spar you owe me before lunch.”

 

“I would love to. Just give me two minutes to change and put Wally back to sleep.”

 

Shayera nods, and steps back so she can close the door. When Artemis goes to pry her new growth off of herself, though, she runs into a problem.

 

“Wally, you have to let go.”

 

“No.”

 

“I need to change.”

 

“I’m not letting go of you.”

 

“You’re going to have to. I want to go spar with Shayera. You should go back to sleep.”

 

“I can sleep when I’m dead. I don’t want you to leave me.”

 

Artemis sighs.  “Okay, Love. If you let go, we can _both_ change, and you can come with us.”

 

Wally stays tense at first, but after a moment, the arms around her relax. “Thank you.” He’s gone for an instant, and when Artemis turns around, clothes are being thrown in her face. He’s already changed.

 

It takes her a little longer. Wally refuses to completely let go; he holds her hand so she’s forced to do everything one-handed. She doesn’t protest, despite the added difficulty.

Finally, she’s completely ready except for her inability to get her hostage hand through her sleeve. He recognizes the problem, releasing said hand in favor of kissing the other one.

 

“I love you,” Artemis breathes, pulling him close when she’s fully dressed. “More than anything.”

 

“And I you,” He responds without missing a beat. A banging on their door interrupts the moment.

 

“I hope you haven’t forgotten about me already,” Shayera’s voice calls from the other side.

 

Artemis throws open the door. “Of course not. My new growth just slowed me down a little.”

 

“Excuse you. Fastest Man Alive right here!” Wally fakes outrage, but can only hold it for a few seconds. “I’m so glad I get to come watch some of my favorite gals beat each other up,” he says, sliding his arms around both women’s shoulders.

 

They snort. Shayera flexes her wings and cuffs the back of his head at the same time Artemis punches his shoulder.

 

“You’re incorrigible.” 

 

“I might be.”

 

“But you’re ours.”

 

“ _That,_ I’ll agree with.”

 

XxXxX

 

When Bruce wakes up he is unexpectedly content. He is rested, warm, and can’t help that he has an underlying feeling of peace. This, of course, worries him. He forces his eyes open, in case this is another Black Mercy-like attack. When his thoughts finally catch up with him, he realizes that it’s not.

 

It’s much worse.

 

The boy is curled up at Bruce’s side, arms around him. Worse, Bruce’s own arms have hugged back at some point in the night, pulling the boy into a tight, protective embrace.

 

Bruce immediately pulls back, sitting up and shifting away from the boy in the same motion. The movement wakes the younger man, though not completely. “Brus?” He slurs, cracking open an eye. “Wassup?”

 

“ _What do you think you’re doing?”_ Bruce hisses.

 

The boy is unfazed, blinking his eyes as he returns to awareness. “We were having nightmares again. I stopped them. Didn’t you sleep well?”

 

“That’s not the point.” The boy offers no apology; he doesn’t even _look_ sorry. Just confused. Bruce refuses to acknowledge the hurt that’s there too. Instead, he stands and makes his way over to his dresser, carefully keeping his back to the boy. “I think you need to leave. We’re done with our debriefing, and with less of a time crunch, it won’t be difficult to find a spare room for you in the Watchtower.”

 

“Bruce! Please don’t be like that!” There’s a shuffle behind him as the boy follows him over. Bruce feels his temper rising with every footstep. Is this boy dense? Coming into his life when he’s not wanted, overstepping boundaries from the moment he arrives… How _dare_ he intrude, when Bruce has things under control. As if dealing with worried Kryptonians and demi-goddesses and speedsters all the time isn’t enough. He’s a grown man that’s trying to save the world. He won’t be treated like some broken child.

 

Bruce whirls on the boy when a hand touches his shoulder. “I said, _leave._ ” Unfortunately, Dick is not one of the god-like figures who are usually trying to placate Bruce, but a boy reaching out to comfort his father-figure. The difference in mindset gives Bruce the edge to startle the boy in a way that would never work with Wally. The difference in expected strength means his shove – which Clark and Diana would never feel – topples the smaller man over. The boy’s body seems to realize what’s happening and begins a graceful twist that should allow him to catch himself from hitting the floor. It would have worked, too, if he was going all the way to the floor.

 

Instead, he catches his head on the dresser as he goes down. Because of Dick’s maneuver, his face smashes square into the edge of the dresser and he lands in a heap. He presses his hand across his face in reflex from the pain. Bruce wants to reach out to him, but a quick glance up with betrayed eyes stops him.

 

“I…” Bruce tries. The boy doesn’t answer or try to help him out this time. He’s looking down at the hand he just pulled away from his cheek. There’s red there. It’s not bad, but Bruce can’t help but be horrified. This is _his fault._

Bruce made his son bleed.

 

There’s something so big about that thought, that Bruce can’t even find the words to apologize. Instead, he does the only thing he can do.

 

He turns on his heel, and runs away.

 

XxXxX

 

When Bruce finally heads downstairs to the common areas of the Manor, he finds Alfred in the Kitchen. The butler is re-packing the first aid kit.

 

“Master Bruce.” He says stiffly, with a slight inclining of his head. He doesn’t say good morning or offer Bruce breakfast. He doesn’t even chastise Bruce. He just keeps returning bandages and gauze to their place.

 

Bruce wishes the man would berate him. Then Bruce would know the man hasn’t given up on him, that Bruce hasn’t blown everything. If Alfred yelled at him, he might even leave an opening for Bruce to defend himself. It would certainly be easier than countering his own self-loathing.

 

“Alfred, I… it was an accident.”

 

The Englishman looks him straight in the eye, and Bruce goes cold. “As you say, _sir._ ”

 

The man closes the kit, and turns to leave the room. Bruce tries again. “Really. I didn’t mean… I just wanted him gone.”

 

Alfred stops his exit at the door, but doesn’t turn. “In that endeavor, Master Bruce, you seem to have succeeded marvelously.” With that, Alfred is gone, and Bruce is left alone again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Damn it, Bruce! Stop doing that!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, sorry about the Kaldur-Diana section. I really feel like they would be good friends, being from Greek-influence military backgrounds, but I have a really hard time finding their voices. Oh well.


	26. Consolation

Shayera and Artemis end up sparring four rounds, varying the rules of each to favor whoever lost the last one. They’re closely matched, a fact not alleviated by Wally’s unwillingness to referee ‘his gals’ because, as he puts it, “Even I have enough self preservation not to fall into that trap.”

 

The heroines sprawl on the mats when they finish, and Wally is more than happy to bring them water to rehydrate. As he approaches, he realizes, much to his chagrin, that the two are discussing the merits of going a fifth, tie-breaking round. Before he can protest that they’re pushing themselves too far, he feels a familiar tug in the back of his mind. He’s so startled by the barely-remembered gesture that he drops the water onto its intended recipients by accident.

 

“Hey!”

 

“Wally!”

 

“Sorry, Beautifuls,” he recovers at the women’s protests “M’gann startled me. She wants to have lunch together.”

 

Wally and Artemis – who already mentally agree to the meal – glance Shayera. She shrugs, and begins standing up. “Sounds fine to me.” Wally holds out a hand to help Artemis up, even as he feels her reply in affirmation to M’gann. He can feel similar mental nods from Conner and even Kaldur, and Wally can’t help but grin that he’s going to have most of his closest family all at one meal.

 

“Awesome! We can go shower and head up to mess.”

 

“Who is this ‘We?’” Shayera demands. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, Speed Boy, but it better not be that we would let you into the women’s locker room.” Shayera cuffs her brother’s head at the speedster’s guilty expression.

 

Artemis doesn’t make light of it, though. She gives Wally a quick peck on the cheek and says, “Don’t worry. I’ll be fast.”

 

Wally can’t hold his pout for more than a moment. He’s relieved that Artemis understand his agitation and soon grins back. “Fine. But be _really_ fast. We don’t want to keep Megalicious waiting, eh?”

 

He can just _feel_ the eye rolls in the back of his mind. It works as intended though; no one comments on his separation anxiety.

 

XxXxX

 

The moment the door to the locker room closes, Shayera can’t help but ask, “How does it not bother you when he does that?”

 

“When he does what?”

 

“When he, you know…. flirts with M’gann?”

 

Shayera’s answer seems to have caught Artemis off guard; she stares blankly at the other woman for a moment before understanding comes to her. “Oh, You mean the ‘Megalicious’ thing?”

 

“Yeah, and how he always goes on about how beautiful she is… stuff like

 that. It doesn’t seem like flirting to you?”

 

“I guess I can see how it might look like flirting, but it’s not. More like habit, I’d say.” Shayera must hide her confusion poorly; Artemis continues after only a moment’s pause.

 

“Look. There was a time when he did _actually_ flirt with her…. Then M’gann and Conner got together, and Wally and I got together, and we all grew up, you know? But while we were still doing that growing up… a lot of us were really insecure. Wally always did his best to alleviate those insecurities. She won’t mind if I tell you now, but… she used to be really insecure about he looks.”

 

“She’s a shapeshifter,” Shayera deadpans.

 

“And apparently on Mars, your birth form is more important than you as a person will ever be,” Artemis counters right back. The vehemence drains out of her, and she looks down at her feet.  She says, quietly, “It’s hard to overcome the views people constantly shove in your face growing up.”

 

Shayera’s heart aches at those words; the moment she turned against her own people plays out in her mind. She doesn’t have much time to dwell on it. Artemis has found her words again, and her confidence with them.

 

“Wally’s not great with words, you know, but _anyone_ spewing a constant stream of praise could have helped at that point in our lives. It was – I mean, I imagine it was – really nice. After a while, it just became a habit. I honestly didn’t even notice anymore, until you pointed it out.”

 

Shayera nods, thinking hard. “Thank you for explaining all this to me.”

 

Artemis waves her off and steps into the shower, lost in her own thoughts.

 

XxXxX

 

Unfortunately, their meal doesn’t turn out to be the ‘family brunch’ Wally was hoping for.

 

J’onn’s called off almost the moment they sit down to help Mr. Terrific with some crises in the monitor womb. He excuses himself, pauses to give M’gann’s shoulder a squeeze, and phases down to the command center. Clark and Diana have to leave not long after that. Apparently someone thought that unleashing a couple of the recently-captured Legion villains was a good idea; the two strongest Leaguers were needed to bring Giganta and Bizarro back in. Even Hawkgirl is specifically summoned; her nth metal mace was needed to help take care of some kind of magical disturbance in Biyalia. All four wave off the younger heroes’ offers of help.

 

Wally doesn’t like it.

 

_“They’re coddling me.”_

_“Can you blame them?”_ Conner asks. Memories of his discussion with Clark color his thoughts. _“They’re terrified of losing you. We all are.”_

Wally squirms in his seat; the past couple of days have been far too serious for his liking. He’s not sure he can take much more of his family’s dithering over his safety. Can’t they all just be happy to be together?

 

_“We are happy, Wally.”_ M’gann assures him as she passes him another plate of pasta. _“But you have to understand where we’re coming from.”_

He thinks of the months he spent sidelined while Artemis risked her life under the depths of the ocean and grudgingly concedes the point. _“Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”_

_“Hey now, don’t frown so much.”_ Artemis takes his hand in hers. _“We’re going to win this time. Then everything can go back to normal.”_

_“As she says,”_ Kaldur agrees. He’s regained his center in the wake of their mental operation. Now, his steadfast faith anchors the link in this solemn discussion.

 

“Having exclusive mental conversations? Now that’s just rude.”  The sudden comment startles the five out of their introspection; somehow their teammate snuck up on them. Again.

 

When they look up at Dick though, they’re startled out of commenting for a moment. M’gann recovers first.

 

“Ohmigod! Dick! Are you okay? What happened to your _face?”_

The acrobat waves off her mothering with bashfully. “Oh this? I got into a fight with a doorknob and lost.”

 

“Very smooth, Boy Blunder.” Artemis smirks into a bite of potato salad.

 

Dick just grins. “Hey, you know me.” The others chuckle.

 

Wally wonders at Dick’s nonchalance, but when he manages to catch Dick’s eye, the younger hero just shakes his head. Wally’s been best friends with Dick for years. He can read that look even without the mind link. _Don’t question it. Please._

 

Wally frowns, but nods his head in return. _Fine. But it better not be serious._

A quick smile finishes their silent conversation, even as the group’s verbal and mental discussion moves apace. _Thank you._

 

To hide their pause, Wally does what he does best; he runs his mouth. _“You know, this is just more evidence that ninjas aren’t as great as everyone makes them out to be.”_

_“Excuse me, Mr. I-almost-got-dropped-by-my-teammate’s-ninja-sister? Twice?”_

 

_“That is completely irrelevant to this conversation and you know it!”_

_“What conversation is this?”_ Their dear, sweet M’gann had mercifully been left out of the previous iterations of this argument. The rest of the Team is jealous.

_“Wally’s trying to assert that Pirates are better than Ninjas.”_ Conner explains.

_“Isn’t it time to put this_ really old _internet fight to rest?”_ Artemis begs.

Wally’s grin widens. _“Hey, you know us. Never let an argument go until you win.”_

_“Or, more often in your case, lose.”_

_“Oh it is so on, Bro. And don’t expect me to go easy on you because of your facial handicap.”_

_“I understand, it only balances the handicap you have to live with permanently. Your poor mirror.”_ Dick shakes his head in pity.

 

_“I’ll have you know, my mirror loves me, because….. dang it. I don’t have a comeback to that. You totally threw the escalation, Dick! Everyone knows the escalation is, ‘Yo Face,’ ‘Yo Momma,’ ‘Yo Mom’s face!’ You can’t stop in the middle like that! It’s just plain rude.”_

_“What’s the matter Wally? Ninja got your tongue?”_

The rest of the team groans – out loud – as the conversation returns to Ninjas and Pirates.

 

XxXxX

 

John is not having a good day.

 

To be fair, he didn’t have a good night either, so that could be the sleep deprivation talking. Still, he feels he has reason to be a little cranky.

 

Mari was gone when he woke up this morning. She didn’t even leave a note; he had to find out she was sent on a mission from Mr. Terrific.  Then, he couldn’t do his usual work out, because Shayera was in the main gym sparring with Artemis – he’s aware he’s in a bad mood and being around the Thanagarian is just asking for trouble. He couldn’t even count on Wally to come cheer him up, because the speedster was engrossed in the fight. Now he just wants to eat his lunch in peace.

 

A sudden burst of laughter causes John to fumble with his tray, nearly losing his lunch to Fire’s hair. He backs away slowly, unable to form an apology when she turns to glare at him. A couple of bystanders snicker. Wally and his tablemates are oblivious.

 

Well, there goes lunch.

 

John doesn’t often have a problem finding a lunch table. He’ll usually eat with Mari, Rex, or some of the other founders. If nothing else, he can always count on Wally to plop down, steal his fries, protest his own innocence, and generally entertain John for the duration of their lunch break. Even that is clearly not going to happen today, if Wally’s over-full lunch table is anything to go by.

 

It’s actually kind of unsettling. The six younger heroes are dead silent save for the occasional snort or burst of laughter. It’s not that they’re unusually calm or anything. No, they’re gesticulating wildly to each other, poking and prodding and generally behaving like they’re having the most interesting conversation in the world. Just… without the talking. It must be the ‘mindlink’ J’onn had mentioned. It’s even creepier than he made it sound, John thinks.

 

A smaller part of him, though, rolls his eyes at that thought. _You’re just jealous,_ it says.

 

Fine. He might be a little jealous. He has been Wally’s best friend since the very beginning. _But he wasn’t your best friend,_ counters the more rational part. _You don’t have the right to be jealous that he likes them more. That he’d give you up for them._

 

He doesn’t have a counter to that. Not when Wally, cowl down, is smiling so radiantly John is tempted to make himself sunglasses. Instead, he’ll just go find a table in the corner and attempt not to brood-

 

“Hey! G.L!” He turns back to find Wally waving enthusiastically at him. “Come sit with us!” The other five are already moving, somehow making it seem like there’s enough room to crowd in a seventh person at the table.

 

Well, since there’s space, he might as well…

 

The second his tray touches the table, Wally’s talking again, and a semblance of normalcy returns.

 

“Great, GL. I need you to back me up here! So Nightwing’s saying that ‘objectively’ ninjas are better than pirates. Obviously, he’s biased, ‘cause he is a ninja, so I’m trying to help him see the light. Pirates are soooo much better than Ninjas! Pirates get boats! And Swords! And Parrots!”

 

“Ninjas get swords too!” Artemis disagrees pointedly. As if anyone could have forgotten her own swordsmansip.

 

“And ninja’s have tons of projectile weapons. Everyone knows range is better.” Artemis gives M’gann a high-five for the point.

 

“What would you call canons, then?” Kaldur calmly intercedes on Wally’s behalf.

 

“They don’t count! They need multiple people to operate. We’re talking one-on-one here.”

 

“That wasn’t in the parameters of the debate.”

 

“Guys. We have an odd number of people now. GL, tell them Pirates are the best.”

 

Truthfully, John has never cared for ninja’s _or_ pirates, but six faces are staring at him, waiting for him to support _their_ opinion. He says the first thing that comes to his mind. “Honestly, I’ve always preferred cowboys.”

 

“That’s cheating! You can’t take a third option.”

 

“Actually, I agree with him,” M’gann says excitedly as she works through the idea.  “I love classic Westerns! John Wayne and Clint Eastwood and all the rest....”

 

“Classic doesn’t mean good.” Wally disagrees. “Did you ever have to read _The Stanger_ in high school? Because that’s a classic and I think it’s awful.”

 

“You just don’t like it because you think the main character is a sociopath.” Artemis says, folding her arms at her boyfriend.

 

“That’s because he _clearly_ is.”

 

“Guys, you’re missing the point.” Dick cuts them off. “The ninja is superior to the cowboy in every way. I mean, in real life, at least. What do pirates do? Steal stuff, burn down settlements… stuff like that. Ninjas were, like, the secret agents of Feudal Japan.”

 

Conner, however, is having none of Dick’s historical accuracies. “Actually, there is little historic record of ninja, because they were usually recruited from the lower classes. Historians of the era cared more about the noble-born samurai, so I’m not sure that argument is valid.”

 

“We’re getting off track here. This is a discussion about ninjas versus pirates, and ninjas versus pirate _only._ ” Wally slams his hand down on the table to emphasize his point.

 

“It doesn’t matter. Ninja’s are going to win in either argument.” Dick cuts in, poking Wally in the arm. Wally pokes him back.

 

“No. They’re not.”  Just as it looks like the two are going to get into some sort of childish poking war, Aqualad smoothly slides out from his place at the table, moves around to the other side, and slide in between the two.

 

“Let it go, you two.” Kaldur intones with the authority of a long-suffering babysitter. “Your behavior is unacceptable. We are no longer children, if you had forgotten.”

 

Nightwing immediately stops, and rubs the back of his head. “Right. Sorry Kaldur.”

 

“Yeah, sorry guys,” Wally agrees. After a moment, he turns his attention back to John.

 

“But seriously, which one – ow!” Artemis elbowed the speedster in the ribs before the speedster can even finish the question. His expression of betrayal his so comical, that John can help but laugh. He laughs even harder when Wally crosses his arms and glares at him.

 

“Not cool, GL. Not cool at all.”

 

“I think you were asking for that one, Hotshot.”

 

“Damn right he was.” John hates that it had to be Wally’s _BFF_ Dick that agrees with him.

 

“But really. Sorry about all that. It’s been a while, so we’re all really excited.”

 

“Uh, really, it’s fine… Actually, it’s nice to have back up in reigning you in,” John jokes, nodding to the other members of the Team.

 

The Martian girl smiles at him. “It is _definitely_ a multi-person job, isn’t it?”

 

The others crack up again, even as Wally affects a deeper pout. Artemis throws her arm over his shoulders and attempts to soothe him.

 

“Don’t worry, Wall-man. _I_ love you enthusiasm.”

 

“They think I’m childish.” Wally sniffs back.

 

“Noooo.” Artemis protests sarcastically. “I can’t imagine anyone thinking that.”

 

“You’re making fun of me.”

 

“I’d _never_ do that,” She insists, although a moment later she can’t help but add, “Baywatch.”

 

Wally sticks his tongue out at her in retaliation; she just laughs again and sticks a cookie into his mouth.

 

“So Mr. Stewart-”  Kaldur starts, but Wally cuts her off, having inhaled the cookie as he does all of his food.

 

“His name’s GL, Kal. Not – ugh – Mr. Stewart.” Wally grimaces comically. John huffs in only-half-pretend agitation.

 

“Just call me John.” He concedes.

 

“John, then. I was wondering where all you’ve travelled as a Green Lantern? Diana has been telling me stories of the League’s exploits here, but I was curious if you’ve ever run into anything… interesting off-world.”

 

M’gann claps her hands in excited agreement. “That would be so neat! Have you ever been to Raan? Or Rimbor? Have you ever saved other planets? Or made peace between warring galaxies so two star-crossed lovers could be with each other in peace? Or-?”

 

Conner cuts her off before she can get too far away from herself. “I don’t think he’s ever been in a fairytale, Love.”

 

“Ooh!  That reminds me! GL! Tell him about that space princess! The one you rescued from slavers!”

 

John pushes away Wally’s excited gestures. “Calm down, Hotshot. No one wants to hear about that old story.”

 

“Yeah we do!” Dick says excitedly. “I don’t think our John has done anything like that!”

 

“He hasn’t!” Wally confirms.

 

Kaldur’s still smiling politely, and Conner _does_ look intrigued. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to share _one_ story, since they are interested….

 

“You better do it, John. They’re about to pull out the puppy-dog eyes.” Artemis ribs her boyfriend.  “Then all hope is lost.”

 

Well, he can’t say no to that. John launches into the tale.

 

“So my ring’s out of power, and the ruler of the world – it doesn’t have an English translation  – has his goons out after me. He thinks he could harness the power of my ring, take over the sector – the usual. So they’re closing in on all sides, and I’ve just turned down a back alley only to run into a dead end. All of a sudden, a door opens up, and this woman pulls me inside…”

 

John continues with his story, and then another. He’s absolutely preening under the excited attention these heroes give him. Usually he only gets to tell stories like this to Wally. His second one ties in with a diplomatic mission Conner once took to New Genesis, then M’gann has a story about her last visit to Mars. That reminds Wally of the fight that brought the League together, and of course he insists on giving his friends (with John’s help) a play-by-play of the entire invasion. John doesn’t even notice the cafeteria slowly emptying around him; he’s engrossed in the story swapping at his table. At some point, he realizes he actually _likes_ Wally’s friends, instead of merely being polite to them out of social obligation to Wally.

 

By the time he’s forced to leave the table to respond to a disturbance in Dakota City, he’s actually disappointed to leave.

 


	27. Interlude: Bruce Wayne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this is another Interlude, and that it’s focused on the Bat fam. They were not supposed to be such a big deal, but then… yeah.

Bruce uses Batman’s skills to great effect in his effort to silently close the door to his middle son’s room. Jason is, for once, sleeping peacefully. If it weren’t for the streak of white that stands so bold against dark hair on a dark pillow, Bruce might even fool himself into thinking his son his whole. Still, Bruce will take his blessings where he can, and chooses to appreciate his son being alive and home rather than cursing the pieces that are still missing, even after all this time.

 

Bruce checks on Damian next. He too is asleep; not sneaking out to train or patrol for once. The king-sized bed really should be too large for the child, Bruce muses. It would be, too, if it weren’t for the menagerie of pets his youngest son had acquired to fill the space. Alfred disapproves, but Bruce just couldn’t say no. He has his own problem with taking in strays, after all. Said animals shift to watch him when he moves to stroke his son’s cheek, but none try to top him. Assured that the boy was safe and sound, Bruce sneaks back out of the room and continues on his way.

 

He passes Alfred on the way down to the Cave. The Englishman is up late ensuring the Manor’s ‘secret’ cookie stash is well stocked. Bruce doesn’t stop to talk; Alfred is in his domain and Bruce has long known how unwise it is to interrupt Alfred when he’s baking.

 

He finds Cassandra curled up on the sparring mats. Bruce covers her with the blanket Alfred keeps down here for just such occasions; the ex-assassin is uncomfortable enough with the luxury of the mansion that she sleeps down here more often then not. The League had rescued his middle ‘daughter’ from the League of Shadows only a short while after Barbara’s… accident at the Joker’s hands. J’onn was the one who realized how willing Cass was to switch sides, should she be given the chance. Ollie, thinking of Artemis, pushed for her to be put on the Team. Clark then decided to return Bruce’s own advice over Conner, and Barbara and Dick pushed to add her to the family… Well, it was only a matter of time before Bruce caved, and the second Batgirl was born. She’s since graduated to the name of Black Bat so that her ‘younger sister’ could take the Batgirl mantle.

 

With Cass taken care of, he continues to the far side of the cave. He never shut down the cave’s computers after patrol tonight, so it only takes a moment to log on to the mainframe. With a few strokes of his keyboard he confirms his other children’s positions.

 

Barbara, bless her, is still on the Watchtower. The poor girl has been stretched far too thin lately, coordinating information across the world and – increasingly often – across dimensions. She’s been spending more and more time each day in the monitor womb; she doesn’t trust anyone else to track her Team’s movements and needs as they battle the Anomaly. He makes a mental note to ping Zatanna. The League’s magician is one of the few that might be up to the task of dragging Oracle away from her beloved computers and forcing her to enjoy herself for a little while. Bruce can spare a few hours at lunch on Tuesday to cover Barbara’s post, he’ll suggest that time to Zatanna… For the moment, he can just appreciate that she’s at least in her own room. Probably not working, then; she might even finally be getting some sleep. Good for her.

 

Tim and Stephanie are in their respective homes. Good. The Drake’s security cameras are clear; Tim should have a peaceful night. Likewise, the security system Bruce installed in Stephanie’s run-down apartment in Crime Alley show no disturbance. He can accept that, for now. He’s tried to convince the runaway-turned-Batgirl to move into the Manor or the Tower more than once, to little avail. It’s frustrating, but also makes him smile a little inside; the girl has Dick’s cheerfulness and Jason’s obstinacy. If he could just give her Tim’s listening abilities, she would be perfect. Or possibly terrifying. In any case, he double checks the alerts he has on their homes, and shuts off the feed to their security systems.

 

They’re fine.

 

Everyone is fine.

 

A small part of Bruce is finally able to relax. With so many heroes in the family, it’s so rare that they’re all home and safe at the same time.

 

Well, they’re not _all_ home and safe.

 

Bruce’s heart aches at the thought of his eldest son and the dangerous mission the boy has embarked upon.

 

Oracle’s latest reports place all five members of Alpha squad in the same dimension. That only happens when they’ve confirmed the Anomaly’s position. The timing of this with Artemis’ disappearance and sudden reappearance has everyone on edge. They want to know what the Team has gotten themselves into this time.

 

Bruce knows, though, and it’s the hardest secret he’s ever had to keep.

 

_Our Wally is actually your Wally. Don’t let us keep him._

 

His counterpart’s message is encrypted enough that neither Red Robin nor Oracle should be able to get to it, but it still makes Bruce nervous. Everyone moment that he knows and he doesn’t tell them adds to his guilt.

 

He knows about Bart’s breakdown, of course. Most everyone associated with the Team does, actually. Fewer know that Flash still requests a leave of absence every year on the Anniversary.

 

Only Bruce knows that their suffering is in vain.

 

He can’t tell them though. The Team is there – they have to know, _Dick_ has to know – and yet they haven’t said anything. They haven’t come home. Batman’s logic says that they must have a tactical reason for their silence, for their continued absence. Bruce’s worry says that the Anomaly might be too much for them to handle, and fears they might already be broken, or worse. They can’t fail, though. The other League will help them. They care greatly for Wally. They won’t let him die.

 

Right?

 

Of course, that’s the other part of what worries Bruce, isn’t it? That man, that broken shell of what Bruce could be, fears his own possessiveness. And, Bruce thinks, if he’s willing to steal Wally, how much more willing would he be to keep the happy, loving Dick Grayson?

 

It’s so hard, knowing his son is facing danger on two fronts, and being unable to go to him. _Dick’s an adult_ , he tells himself. _I have other children to look after_ , he thinks. It never completely silences the voice in the bottom of his heart that says, _if you don’t protect him, you’re going to lose him too._

And… he can’t. He can’t lose another one of his children. It kills him, every day, to watch them head out and fight for his mission. Knowing that they might not come back, and even if they do, they might not be _whole…_

Because he lost Jason to the Joker’s cruelty. He almost lost his life and the lives of his friends to the courts of Rimbor, only to return and discover how close he came to losing Tim too. He saw Barbara get crippled, and stood by, unable to help. Cass is already broken, and he doesn’t know where to find all the pieces. He came _this_ close to losing Stephanie to Black Mask, and even so, it took her months to heal from that torture. He found Damian, and learned that he lost his son’s childhood.

 

He may have already lost his eldest son, and he doesn’t even _know._

He may face the most guilt over it all, but he knows he’s not the only one suffering. Barbara and Tim, at least, have risen to the challenge admirably. They’re running the Team, helping Jason re-integrate himself, teaching Damian teamwork… and holding this family together. They’re working _so_ hard so that Bruce doesn’t have additional stress from this. Even Batman can see the cracks though.

 

Tim is drawing into himself. Barbara is become more desperate. Jason’s lashing out more. Damian’s growing ever more derisive. Steph’s missing her idol. Cass is reverting to the voiceless pawn she was once was. Even Alfred has become increasing morose as the months drag on and still Dick hasn’t come home for more than a few days at a time.

 

In a way, their reactions are reassuring. Let this Batman try to keep Wally. The Team won’t stand for it. And if he tries to keep Dick, well. Bruce is confident his family won’t like that one bit. It really doesn’t pay to upset the Bat Clan.

 

More than that, though, Bruce reminds himself to have faith in his son. When had Dick – when have any of the Team – not been able to do something they’ve put their mind to? If this really is _their_ Wally, they won’t let the Anomaly take him. Heck, with any luck, they could be home within the week even!

 

This confidence is enough to allow him to shut down the computer and head for bed, content in the knowledge that his family is safe.

 

The guilt and worry and fear return by morning, though.

 

They always do.


	28. Reparations

Wally’s disappointed when John finally has to leave, but even that’s not enough to kill his good mood.

 

_“Thank you guys. So much.”_ It means the world to him how hard his friends have tried to connect with the League. They were even able to draw John, who’s been so grumpy lately, into the conversation. The inclusion seems to have crumbled some of the Lantern’s walls against his other friends; he might yet see his family become whole.

 

It’s something Wally never thought he’d have, and the chance at it is just, it’s just… _wonderful._

_“We don’t mind at all Wally! We really like them!”_ M’gann assures him. By all accounts, J’onn and M’gann hit it off the best. Whatever they did last night in their meditation, it brought the two close. J’onn seems all but ready to declare M’gann his family officially. Hell, the stoic Martian was actually _smiling_ today. Wally’s never seen the man’s eyes glow with happiness like that. He’s seen them literally glow with power, of course, but never with happiness. Wally loves it.

 

Clark and Conner, too, seem to have got on well. Kara stopped by on her way out for a mission to say hi, and the gentle teasing that occurred between her and her cousins was, well, adorable. M’gann practically cooed in delight when Kara walked away. Conner and Clark were embarrassed, but took the Team’s ribbing with grace.

 

They were all surprised when Kaldur met them for lunch with Wonder Woman at his elbow. The Amazon lent her strength to their just-healed teammate, allowing him to demonstrate a steady gait that only their mental link revealed was a façade. Furthermore, Wally’s two formality-obsessed friends seemed to get along as, well, people, rather than just their usual polite masks.

 

Of course, Artemis was already getting along with the other founders, especially Shayera, which just leaves…

 

_“It was truly our pleasure, my friend.”_ Kaldur agrees. “ _It’s so interesting to compare and contrast these Leaguers with our own.”_

And Dick definitely flinched at that, just a little. Wally feels his eyes involuntarily narrow a little. _Bruce._ Of course his taciturn friend is at fault for Dick’s face. He knows this Bruce, and how different he is from Dick’s Bruce. He should have known, should have prepared Dick… too late now.

 

No. No it probably isn’t. His best friend is anything but resentful. If Bruce apologized, Dick would forgive him. They could still salvage this, still keep Bruce from backsliding completely…

 

Of course, the trick would be _getting_ Bruce to apologize. Wally’s put too much effort into getting Bats to lighten up, to give up easily though. He’s not letting the older hero’s relationship with his ‘son’ go down the drain without a fight…

 

As if sensing Wally’s non-linked thoughts, Dick chooses that moment to push their conversation forward.

 

_“Can we go do something now? Like, maybe a sparring tournament. I’m_ dying _to see if Wally kept up any of his skills at all.”_ Wally pouts at his friend. He hasn’t.

_“Ugh, no,”_ Artemis protests. _“I spent all morning in there with Shayera.”_

_“Ref for us then.”_

_“…Fine. Don’t beat him up too badly.”_

_“Thanks for the concern, Babe.”_

They had begun heading back down towards the gym even as the conversation progressed. They all knew Wally and Artemis were going to lose this argument. With Artemis out of their ‘tournament’ Wally resigned himself to his fate; a couple of hours of being showed up by Conner and Dick. At that moment, though, the Team turned the corner, almost running directly into the Dark Knight.

 

“Bats!” Wally calls out, throwing up his arms in delight. This is perfect. He slings his arm around the older hero and says, “Just the man I needed to talk to.”

 

“Talk to him later, Kid Mouth. We have a tournament to fight.” Dick hints at him. Wally ignores him.

 

“I just have to give Bats a quick founders update. I’ll catch up to you guys in a second!”

 

“Wally! You’re not trying to get out of this, are you?” M’gann accuses in a teasing voice.

 

“Of course not! Would I do that?” His teammates stare at him. “Okay, fine. But I’m _not_ this time. I’ll be right behind you guys.” He shoos them along, and they reluctantly obey. Wally keeps his hand on Bruce’s shoulder, preventing his escape, until the Team turns down another corridor. Then, he turns to his friend and gives him a hard look.

 

“Whatever you did, it is not cool, man.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Wally stares at him. Bruce is – relative to his normal composure – twitchy and agitated. It’s painfully obvious to Wally that he’s off his game. He would have had a better defense otherwise.

 

“It was an accident,’ The Dark Knight finally admits, an undertone of pleading to his voice. He’s _really_ off of his game, Wally realizes with some sympathy. It should have taken far more needling than one searching stare to get the Batman to open up.

 

That’s… sort of impressive.  Classic Dick, really. Only one night and he’s already busted through the emotional barriers Wally has only dented in years. That means this is salvageable.

 

“Talk to him. He’ll forgive you.”

 

“Why should he?”

 

Wally was hoping Bruce would ask that. “Because he’s Dick Grayson.”

 

XxXxX

 

Wally runs off after his friends when they finish… _talking._ Bruce only hesitates a moment before following.

 

He remains unobtrusive in order to observe the younger heroes for a few moments. He hasn’t yet seen Nightwing in action for himself; he has to admit that he’s impressed.

 

The boy moves beautifully between his super-strong and super-fast opponents. Bruce can see exactly where his own training mingles with the boy’s natural acrobatics. He even notices a few moves he’s never seen before – perhaps remnants of his years as an aerialist or Black Canary’s training.

 

The boy notices him all to soon, and when Bruce tilts his head to the door he receives a nod in reply. Nightwing makes his excuses, and meets him in the corridor.

 

“What’s up? Did you figure something out from the data we compiled?”

 

Up close, Bruce can see Alfred’s handiwork (his _own_ handiwork) across the side of Nightwing’s face. He feels the pain in his chest sharpen.

 

“No. I… uh… I wanted to talk to you.” The boy’s eyes clearly widen under his mask, and Bruce braces himself for the outrage. He shouldn’t have listened to Wally. He _hit_ the younger hero when the boy reached out to him. He’s not just going to-

 

“Okay. Wanna walk?” Bruce’s mouth clicks shut. He blinks under the cowl.

 

“Yes. That’s a… good idea.” They stroll in silence for a few moments. For better or for worse, the boy’s going to force Bruce to speak first.

 

“I’m sorry.” He blurt out, unable to think of anything else to say. Nightwing makes an accepting sort of humming sound.

 

“I figured you were. Was that all?” He doesn't seem spiteful, rather honestly curious.

 

Bruce fingers the folders he grabbed on his way here and recognizes there is more he wants to – needs to – say. “I’m sorry for my counterpart too. You would have been better off without us.” That garners a reaction.

 

“ _Excuse me?”_ Nightwing wheels on him in outrage. Bruce is unperturbed. He needs to get his discoveries off his conscience. He needs to make the boy understand why he can’t let him in. Why he’d rather he’d rather be brooding, and angry, and upset his fellow founders with his reticence than acquire the happiness his counterpart had found in family.

“I’ve looked into your counterpart, and the counterparts of your siblings. They’re better off without me. That’s why I can’t let you in. Why your Bruce shouldn’t have either.”

 

Nightwing is shaking his head, as if refusing to believe what he’s hearing. Bruce anticipated this. He presses the files he assembled this morning into the boy’s hands. He pulls open the first, showing the pictures, newspaper articles, and other artifacts of life he had compiled to the boy.

 

“This is our world’s Stephanie Brown. She’s a single mother, but doing very well for herself as a child advocate within the CPS system. She was recently appointed as a liaison with Drake Industries’ new medical charity, colloquially referred to as the ‘Sickness Spoilers’ for their work getting underprivileged children properly vaccinated. If the tabloids are to be believed, she and the Drake heir, Timothy, tend to spend more time together than strictly necessary for their work.

 

Dick gives the smallest shake of his head. Bruce sighs and shifts the folder to the bottom of the pile. He makes Dick open the second. This time, Dick gets stuck on the very first page. It’s a police report. He looks up to Bruce with questioning eyes. He can’t voice the question.

 

“Jason Todd. Arrested for trying to steal from the Batman, and other petty charges. Got some schooling as part of his stint in a juvenile detention center. It turned his life around; he now owns a small diner just outside the Narrows. It’s doing well; a lot of kids from that area hand out there in the afternoon because it’s declared neutral ground from the gangs, and he’s a good enough fighter to enforce that. It’s grown enough that he now has three employees, including the mysterious immigrant Cassandra Cain. Rumors are she’s ‘freaky accurate’ at predicting when a fight’s about to break out, helping Jason keep tensions low enough that the kids don’t get into trouble.”

 

“Good for them.” Dick says hoarsely.  He’s finally caught his words. Bruce can see that it isn’t enough, though. This hurts him, but it’s not damning enough for Dick to really _understand._

He makes Dick open the third file.

 

“Richard Grayson. Adopted by a couple from southern Gotham eight months after he entered Gotham Protective Services due to the death of his parents. Graduated top of his class from Gotham Police Academy, and is quickly rising to the rank of detective within the Bludhaven Police Department. Engaged to one Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Their biggest struggle will be deciding what color to paint the walls of her new office as she moves her cyber security company, Oracle, down to Bludhaven.”

 

“So tell me, exactly, why you think I – my counter part, I mean – did you all any favors.”

 

Nightwing just stares at the folders.

 

“Do you understand? How much better off you are here? You never lost your brother to the Joker’s plans. Your sister never suffered under the Black mask. Barbara was never crippled. You weren’t taken in by a selfish man who was so caught up in his own vendetta that he would sacrifice _children_ for his end goals. In this world, you’re all safe. You’re all _happy_. How can you think-?”

 

“ _I’m_ happy.”

 

This time, it’s Bruce that stares.

 

“Bruce… I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but… you didn’t ruin any of our lives. You don’t understand how much you’ve changed us for the better. I _love_ what we do, and who’ve I’ve met, and all the people we save. I love my brothers, and sisters, and aunts and uncles and the Team. I love _you._ ” He reaches out with his free handto touch Bruce’s shoulder. Dick’s masked eyes draw Bruce’s cowled ones like a magnet. He can’t look away now, no matter how hard he tries.“If it were somehow possible, I wouldn’t trade my life for his life. I wouldn’t even think about it.

 

“I am so, so happy that this Richard Grayson is doing so well. Really. It’s wonderful that me, and Jay and Babs and Timmy and Cass and Steph are happy and healthy and thriving. But _none_ of us would trade what we’ve done with you to be in their places. _None of us._ Because even though things are hard, and sometimes we suffer for our line of work, we’re still happy. We’ve made a new family, and we’ve done a lot of good. We’ve made something of our lives. That’s all because of _you_ , Bruce. Well, your counterpart, technically, but that capacity is still there inside of you.

 

“You don’t get to decide what would be better for us. Not with out consulting us. Not at the expense of your own happiness. It’s not selfishness to let people in, Bruce. It’s selfish to keep them out, especially when they care so much about you. Maybe it’s too late for you to get close to them,” Dick holds up the folders, “and maybe it’s not. But if nothing else, you have a family, and people that love you _right here._  


“Every version of you is really obtuse about these kind of things, so let me just spell it out for you. The way you feel about the other Founders? Don’t lie to me!” Dick cuts off his attempt to protest. “I know you care deeply for them, and they feel the same way about you. Wally looks up to you. Shayera and J’onn respect you like a father – even if they sometimes have to rebel like teenagers to get their points across. J’onn thinks you’re something like a moody nephew. Clark is forever trying to be your best friend and brother. Diana is even in love with you! Seriously. It’s freaking me out to see Auntie Diana make googoo eyes at you… But that’s not the point.

 

“The point is, they’re your family. You need to trust them not to leave you at the drop of the hat. In return, maybe you could give them a reason to trust that you don’t always have a secret ulterior motive to everything,” Dick finished his tirade in a huff, crossing his arms. He doesn’t know what else to say. Bruce doesn’t seem to either; Dick’s arguments and assertions have knocked him of his mental feet. He’s still struggling to get up and get back in the race.

 

Dick realizes how lost Bruce is for the moment. He pulls on the man’s arm, and starts them walking down the corridor again. Motion has always helped him think, and made it hard for Bruce to brood.

 

“Thank you, Dick.” Nightwing stumbles.

 

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

 

“Thank you… for your opinion.” Bruce amends quickly. “It is nice to know how you feel. I will keep your point of view in mind in the future.” If Dick knew Bruce any less well, he would groan at the man’s stubbornness. He does know Bruce that well, though, so he notices the slight hitches in the man’s voice, and the way every step betrays the tension in his body. Bruce truly is thinking on his words. Good.

 

Dick dumps the files in one of the recycling bins they walk by, and Bruce doesn’t stop him. Good, Dick thinks with a smile.

 

“You know, you didn’t have a file on Damian in there. Is that because he doesn’t exist here? Or because you couldn’t find anything on him? As much as I _really_ don’t want to think about you and Talia doing the nasty, I wouldn’t mind helping you look into it. If Dami exists, we should probably consider _reclaiming_ custody of him ASAP. We could… hey! Are you even listening to me?”

 

The Dark Knight no longer seems to be paying attention now that they’ve reached the main bay; his head is swiveling back and forth. With each sweep his eyes make across the bay, his frown deepens.

 

“Where is everybody?”

 

“I… what do you mean?”

 

Bruce gestures to the bay. “There’re far fewer people in here than usual.”

 

“A lot of people have been getting called for missions today... Is that not normal?”

 

“Not to this extent. Where are the other founders? Are they here?”

 

“Um, M’gann says J’onn just left to take care of a crisis in South Rhelasia, so I think you and Wally are the only ones left.” Dick can tell Bruce is narrowing his eyes behind the cowl.

 

“So most of the League’s manpower and all of our heavy hitters have been called away? This – ”

 

“Has to be a trap.” Dick finishes for him, eyes widening. “Wally!”

 

He spins on his heel to head back towards his teammates. At that moment, the Watchtower lurches, sending the aerialist careening backwards. A hand on his back steadies him, and Dick gives a quick nod of thanks to Bruce before they both continue back down the corridor to where Wally is. Bruce barks orders into his comm as they go.

 

“Batman to the League; Watch Tower is under attack.  Operate Defense Routine Sigma, with evacuation plan Priori Theta. Requesting back up from Alpha League members _stat._ ”

 

They turn down another hallway and the Tower shakes again. Lambent red tendrils rush down the corridor towards them, and their priorities have to shift to keeping themselves alive.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when this isn't even a cliffhanger compared to next chapter. *Preemptively sets up escape plans*
> 
> Also, a couple people have asked me what the timeline is on this. I've left that deliberately vague. Trying to mesh Earth-16 events and ages with DCAU events and ages gets very... sketchy. Plus, I'm awful at gaging kid's learning abilities - I don’t want to say the twins are 3, then write them like they're five, or vice versa.
> 
> In my head, it's been about three years since the YJ Season 2 finale, but please feel free to imagine whatever length of time makes the most sense to you.


	29. Separation

Ch 22: Separation

_“Batman to the League; Watch Tower is under attack.  Operate Defense Routine Sigma, with evacuation plan Priori Theta. Requesting back up from Alpha League members stat.”_

_Batman and Nightwing turn down another hallway and the Tower shakes again. Lambent red tendrils rush down the corridor towards them, and their priorities have to shift to keeping themselves alive._

 

XxXxX

 

Wally groans as he hits the mats in the training room. Again.

 

“C’mon. Get up. Just for a couple more rounds. We have a lot of work to do to get your shoddy hand-to-hand skills back to a reasonable level.” Wally sits up to glare at his Kryptonian friend. M’gann and Artemis, who are watching from the side, laugh.  


“I can’t, Conner. I…I think I’m dying!” Wally calls out dramatically, laying back on the floor. He clutches his chest and leans up just enough to say, “Tell… J.J. Abrams…. To dedicate the next Star Trek to me,” before flopping back, eyes closed and tongue hanging out.

 

“Sorry Wall Man. No can do. Didn’t you hear that he’s moved on? He’s directing the next Star Wars movie instead.”

 

“What?!?!” Wally leaps to his feet at his girlfriend’s news. “That traitor!”

 

Just as she’s about to snark back, the room shudders, leaving the four scrambling for balance.

 

“What just happened?”

 

M’gann’s eyes glow, and she pulls them into the mindlink, passing along Dick’s realization. _“The Anomaly’s here.”_

 

XxXxX

_“Batman to the League; Watchtower is under attack.  Operate Defense Routine Sigma, with evacuation plan Priori Theta. Requesting back up from Alpha League members_ stat.”

 

J’onn’s heart freezes.

 

No. _No._

 

The Watchtower is home. Home is supposed to be _safe._ It can’t be under attack.

 

_Like_ peaceful _Mars couldn’t be under attack,_ one corner of his mind whispers.

 

Another corner is counting. _Who am I going to lose?_ Clark and Diana were called down before him. Mission control was looking for Shayera as he was heading out. The three of them might be safe. The others, though… Bruce is making the call, so he must have finally left the safety of his cave for the ‘Tower. John had been having lunch with the Team, last J’onn heard. That means Wally is up there too, as is M’gann. _No._

 

It’s not fair.

 

J’onn never leaves the Watchtower. He should be there, protecting his family. Keeping his loved ones _safe._ Defending his home, his League, his _niece._ He’s just met her, just remembered how glorious it is to share heart-thoughts with another.

It’s not _fair._

The comm line goes dead before he can prepare a response. So does his teleportation beacon. He’s not going to be able to back them up. No one, is most likely.

_It’s not fair._

J’onn resists the urge to close his eyes, instead swallowing and working up the strength to crush his negative thoughts. There’s nothing he can do for them now. He turns back to his enemies – the reason he’s _here_ and not _with them._ His eyes glow as he fights the rage in his heart.

 

J’onn’s restraint doesn’t keep him from enjoying the fear in their eyes.

 

XxXxX

 

They make it to Batman and Nightwing just seconds before a crash shudders through the Watchtower, leaving them floating in darkness. The power must have cut out, taking lights and the artificial gravity system with it.

 

Screams emanate around them even as panicked voices sound in Wally’s mind; M’gann can’t pull Bats into the link.

 

_I can’t feel him! I don’t know what- I can’t tell where-_ M’gann has had long years to practice filtering strong emotions from the mindlink. Even so, none of them miss the rushed quiver in her “voice.”

_M’gann! It’s okay! I’m sure he’s just… knocked out or shielding you or something._ Dick tries to assure her, though his words are hesitant. M’gann’s answering silence is thick. Wally imagines that, if there were light right now, he could see M’gann’s eyes widen as she tried to set he face in a more neutral mask.

 

Wally’s about to say something to comfort them when an eerie red glow illuminates the bay as fire suddenly bursts from the floor. Part of it forms into tendril and shoots straight toward them. Kaldur wards it off at the last minute by pulling a cocoon of water around them from the now-useless wall pipes. Cozy blue replaces threatening red as Kaldur’s tattoos glow from his persistent effort to shield them. The movement pushed Artemis close enough to grab Wally’s hand, and her comforting squeeze reminds him that they have bigger problems to worry about than one person, no matter how good a friend Bats is. He’s _fine._ He has to be.

 

The rush of water around them drowns out the sound well enough that Wally can finally hear the tiny voices echoing through the comm in his ear.

 

“It killed the power!”

 

“Then get the back-up generators running!”

 

“Those _were_ the back-up generators! The primary reactor was taken out in the first attack.”

 

“We’ll have to evacuate then. Life support can’t run. Teleporters are a no-go, but the Javelins have their own power supply…”

 

“Uh, yeah. That’s not going to work. The Javelin bay seems to be on fire. Malevolent, red, glow-y fire.”

 

A series of curses resound across the comm link.

 

Wally takes a deep breath and chimes in by asking, “What’s wrong with the reactor?”

“The Anomaly knocked it-”

 

“ _Specifically.”_

 

“Primary reactors got jostled in that last crash. Even with Icon’s tech, the plasma’s toroidal current was never very stable. The jolt instigated a Major Disruption and damaged the inner shielding. With the back-up generators down and unable to pump air in to reduce the pressure differential from the vacuum, we can’t get in to check for debris. Even if we could fix that, the initiator flywheel was dislodged, and we don’t have anyway to get it going again. Without that there’s no way to-”

 

“-Overcome the activation energy of the reactor to get the plasma up to temperature. Yeah. I know.”

 

Chatter continues over the line and in his mind, but Wally doesn’t notice. For the first time in ages, Wally lets his mind slip back its favorite place: _science._

He’s the obvious choice to get the flywheel started; all their heaviest hitters are planet-side, so a strong impulse isn’t going to work. He might be able to induce a non-zero angular momentum by running counter to it, which would allow the angular momentum to remain zero. It’s been a while since Wally’s seen the thing – probably back when the Atom thought his miniaturization tech might combine well with the Martian tech in the system and he observed some of the upgrades– but he’s fairly confident the set up will allow him to run _inside_ the wheel. That means, once he gets going, centripetal force will hold him to its surface.

 

The shielding… that will be trickier to fix. He’ll probably have to… Wally quickly pulls that train of thought off that track before the others notice. Deliberately avoiding those thoughts, he says, “Hey Kaldur… Remember that time you helped us go surfing on Lake Wynonna? How you pushed us around with your hydrokinesis?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Can you do an encore of that and get me down to the reactor room? I might be able jury-rig something to get it running again.”

 

“M’gann would be faster-”

 

“M’gann’s telekinesis can stabilize a larger number of people and give them a fighting chance against the Anomaly’s blasts,” Wally counter before Dick can finish.

 

The six glance among themselves. He can feel their reluctance to split up through the mental link. In that moment of hesitation, a piercing scream echoes down the corridor, and any qualms in their minds are squashed.

 

Kaldur nods. “Okay.”

 

Wally grins, and calls on the comm, “I’ll be right down to see what I can do. Anyone that can, hold perimeter around the reactor bay so it doesn’t get damaged any further.”

 

As he speaks, Wally can feel M’gann preparing herself to telekinetically yank the other three out of the way when Kaldur drops the water shield. They don’t know what’s out there, so they have to be ready to move in _three, two, one_ ….

 

Water swirls and red flickers into Wally’s vision, trying to drown out the blue at his side. The vortex of light gives the speedster a bad case of vertigo, but Kaldur seems to have it under control, so he doesn’t complain. For the moment, Wally just needs to relax. He lets the water enveloping him push him along, trusting that the heartbeat at his side won’t guide him wrong. Luckily, Kaldur’s used to fighting in three dimensions; the Atlantean seems to have no problem navigating the dim corridors and their fiery obstacles.

 

Wally can see through the others’ eyes that they’re on the offensive again, heading towards the main bay. M’gann’s found her center and they’re using her telekinesis as a brace for their attacks, to great effect. Wally allows himself a single moment to mentally cheer for Artemis as one of her liquid nitrogen arrows saves Ice from a less-than-chilly demise. Then, they’re in the reactor bay, and Wally has to focus.

 

The reactor, while a hybrid of alien and terrestrial technology, is similar enough to a Tokomak fusion reactor in design that Wally can identify its major components with his rather dusty knowledge from back at Stanford. Vixen has taken on the power of some sort of gecko; she’s on all fours, stuck to the containment shielding to guard against attack. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are hovering around the flywheel, doing their best to maneuver it back into alignment in the dim light of Booster’s rockets. Wally mentally checks their work; it looks satisfactory enough to last for one run.

 

“Flash? What are you two doing down here?” Vixen calls from her post.

 

“I told you I was coming down. I think I can restart the flywheel. Are the magnets damaged?” Booster Gold shakes his head.

 

“No. We shouldn’t have a problem stopping it to ‘steal’ its energy _if_ you can get this thing up to speed.”

 

“Hey now! Don’t doubt the fastest man alive!” Wally throws a cocky grin on for good measure. The others roll their eyes, and Wally bends down to pull of his boots. “Hold these for me?”

 

Kaldur frowns in puzzlement. “Why did you take off your footwear?”

 

“These boots’re designed to reduce friction when I run, but in this case, friction is exactly what we need.”

 

_“That’s going to burn your feet pretty bad,”_ Artemis whispers in his mind.

 

_“It’ll be fine. You need to focus,”_ he chastises as she only barely dodges another blast.

 

“ _Psh. I could do this in my sleep, Baywatch. You just take care of yourself.”_ Wally can’t help but smile at his Love’s stubbornness.

 

“Okay…” Kaldur acquiesces.

 

“How are you going to do this?” Blue Beetle asks. “Do you need out help?”

 

Wally shakes his head. “Nah. Kaldur’ll brace me ‘till I get moving fast enough for the centripetal force to hold me down.” He looks at his friend. “Pull me off just before they reconnect the reactor and brace me against the containment unit so I can vibrate in. I’ll have to check the inner shielding and remove any contaminating debris.”

 

“Um, Flash? When we hit the switch, it’s going to charge the plasma in there up to thousands of degrees. In the interest of you not getting fried and Hawkgirl not killing us, why don’t you do it in the other order?”

 

“If I go in now, gravity’s till off. There’s nothing to push against in there, so there’s no way to get back out.” Wally shrugs; this is an obvious problem to him. “No, I’m going to have to get out between gravity kicking back in and the plasma’s heat radiating to the shield walls.”

 

“But that’ll give you only a fraction of a second between gravity kicking on and the heat of the Plasma overwhelming you! If you miss-time it by even a millisecond-”

 

“Hey! What did I say about doubting the Fastest Man Alive?” Wally jokes as Kaldur’s water tendrils position him on the wheel.

 

Of course. It doesn’t go as smoothly as all that.

 

The flywheel accelerates just fine, and Wally vibrates through the containment walls without issue. Even the damage to the inner shielding is less extensive that Wally could have hoped; he can easily remove the few pieces of debris large enough to mess with the plasma flow. It’s only when Wally glances at the central toroid as he prepares to vibrate back out that he realizes the problem.

 

Somehow, the coiled wire at the center that generates the magnetic field that contains the plasma was knocks out of alignment. It shines cruelly in the light of the headlamp Booster sent in with him, mocking him with its tilted position.

 

Wally’s brain kicks into overdrive, and the world slows down even further. If the reactor is sparked with the toroid out of alignment, the magnetic field will send the plasma spiraling out and destroy the shielding. This will probably also vaporize anything else that gets in its way, specifically, Wally himself.

 

Even as he processes this, Wally sees a spark as electricity arcs down through the toroid. With little more thought, Wally launches himself off the wall of the reactor. He stretches out his arms as he flies towards the center of the reactor and loops his arm around the center stand. In the same motion, he reaches up to _click_ the toroid’s stand back into place even as electricity strikes it, making it glow beneath his fingers.

 

He has no time to even cry out from the pain of his burned fingers; he throws himself back towards the reactor’s walls in the same nanosecond, just as gravity kicks on. Heat pounds at his back, but he’s a quarter-halfway-all the way back through! A pair of strong hands catch him as he slumps forward out of the containment shielding. It’s too bright in the suddenly-relit bay to look, but he knows its Kaldur.

 

“Well done, my friend.” The Atantean whispers in his ear. Their friends are cheering in the back of his mind; he watches through their eyes as they organize a counter attack now that they can properly move and see.

 

Wally doesn’t move for a long (to a speedster) while after that. The adrenalin of the past few seconds is gone, and he’s acutely aware of his new burns. Luckily, Kaldur doesn’t seem to mind waiting for his healing to kick in. Still, the second he can stand to run without flinching, Wally takes his boots back from Kaldur.

 

“Thanks.” He swiftly pulls the most important part of his uniform back on. Without warning him, Wally scoops up his friend, and books it back to the main bay, repaying the Atlantean for his earlier transportation help. “I am _so_ ready to go kick some Anomaly butt!”

 

XxXxX

 

Artemis knows this isn’t working when Dick gets knocked out of a flip right after M’gann gets burned by one of the fiery blasts. There’re just too many people up here to get them all out quickly, and too little they can do against the barrage of attacks to hold up much longer. So far, their greatest asset is Wally’s ability to pull most people out of the way of the Anomaly’s blasts. If he stumbles, though, or the Anomaly thinks to knock the reactor out again...

 

They’re never going to hold the Watchtower long enough for everyone to retreat. Their only chance is to draw off the attack. The only thing that might do that is…

 

Artemis spins to yell at Mr. Terrific, who is operating the teleportation platforms. “Send Wally next! He needs to get out of here!”

 

“What? No! We can’t leave all these people here! I’m the only one who can-” Her boyfriend protests as he dashes across the Bay to pull Dove to safety. She cuts him off.

 

“Drawing off the attack is the only way we can save everyone.”

 

Kaldur glances at her, and she sees his gray eyes harden as they meet hers. Kaldur is Tigress’s partner, _her_ partner, and knows exactly what she’s getting at. He snags Wally on the speedter’s next pass near the Team, and shoves him into Artemis’ hold.

 

“She’s right.” He turns from addressing the Team to speak straight to her. “Take Wally and go. We’ll hold it off for now.” The others mentally nod in agreement.

 

“Thank you,” she whispers to him as she drags a still-protesting Wally to the teleporter platform. “Let’s go, Baywatch. I’d hate for this place to get knocked out of the sky. All of your hard work would go to waste.”

 

XxXxX

 

Wally’s not sure where they materialize, just that it is a dessert in every stereotypical sense of the word: the heat is searing, the sand is grating, and the horizon is empty.

 

“Well… this is fun.” He comments as he kicks at the ground. He tries to inflect some humor into his voice, but Artemis’ responsive smile doesn’t reach her eyes.

 

“Well, at least there’s not way the Anomaly would ever look for you here.”

 

“Yeah… we just need to hope it gives up on the ‘Tower too…” She doesn’t say anything to that; she just takes his hand in hers.

 

Suddenly, Wally realizes how tired he really is. They’ve been pushing through crisis after crises for four days. A week before that, they were escaping the Legion’s headquarters, and for the two weeks before that, he had been held prisoner and tortured. It makes him weary to realize how much has happened, and how little progress they’ve actually made against their true enemy.  No. How little progress they’ve made _and_ how much they might have just lost to the Anomaly. Wally really doesn’t want to think about it, but how can he not? He’s just left his friends to _die,_ and even Artemis’ presence isn’t enough to assuage that guilt.

 

“Are you okay, Wall Man?”

 

_Yes,_ He wants to say. It’s what he’s said every time someone had asked that question since he’d come to this dimension. He can’t lie to Artemis, though. He hasn’t been able to for years. Instead, he says, “I don’t know.”

 

Maybe that’s not the full truth either, but it’s the best he can give her without saying, “ _I need your plan to work. I can’t lose them_.”

 

She understands. He leans down to touch his forehead to hers, hoping he can absorb some of her strength by being closer to her.

 

It’s because they’re so focused on each other that they don’t notice the wind change at first. It’s a subtle change, noticeable only in the way the sand at their feet is suddenly kicked up in a spiral, but still the warning would have given them a much-needed head start. They notice only seconds later, as the wind increases in intensity, but it’s too late. Scarlet runes glow at their feet, and lambent red flames burst from the ground to encircle them.

 

This would normally not be enough to keep Wally contained. He’s run through flames before and he has an obligation to get Artemis out of here, no matter the pain it might cause him. Unfortunately, he’s already tried this tactic on the Watchtower, so he knows this doesn’t behave like normal fire.

 

Wally’s considering how he might use his speed to just launch Artemis out of the flames, so that she, at least, will make it out of this when the walls of their fiery prison grow, arching over them and completely sealing them in. Wally can already feel the heat dragging him down as the oxygen in their dome grows thin. The Anomaly must be done playing games. It isn’t even going to have to blast them to kill them; suffocation will do just fine. Wally doesn't let the panic get to him until he hears Artemis’ voice.

 

“We’re not going to make it out of this.” The statement is flat. There is no worry or despair in Artemis’ voice. Of course, there’s not hope either. She’s stating a fact. Wally can’t bear that.

 

“Please don’t give up.” He begs, cupping her face as they sink to their knees.  Her watering eyes push his brain into overdrive; he won’t let her die like this. Suddenly, inspiration comes to him. He wants to kick himself for not thinking of it before. “Use the TD tech! Get out of here!”

 

She’s already pulling the remote out, though. He’s relieved; he was afraid he would have to fight her one this. He pulls her in for one last, quick kiss. “I love you. Please be happy without me this time. I’m so sorry.”

 

“No.” She hasn’t pulled back from their embrace, and he feels something snap onto the back of his suit as she speaks. “ _I’m_ sorry. I’m too selfish to watch you die again.” He’s so stunned that he can’t even stop her from pulling away.

 

With one more murmur, she pulls away from him and brandishes her bow as if she actually has a fighting chance. He’s unable to stop her; the world is already fading out around him, pulling him into a different dimension….

 

The last thing he hears her say is, “Forgive me.”

 

XxXxX

 

The Leaguers on the Watchtower he’s sent to – whatever universe this is, probably wherever Artemis was stationed last – are more than a little shocked at his appearance. He doesn’t pay them any mind. Later, he’ll vaguely remember that they tried to talk to him, and ask him what was going on. A few reached out to him; he’ll remember shaking them off. He does the same when someone – he doesn’t pay attention to who – asks if Artemis sent him.

 

They’re not important. Not when Artemis is in danger. He has to get back…

 

The universe – or perhaps the Anomaly – must be conspiring against him. First the tech won’t respond; apparently it has a built in cool-down time to prevent its circuits from getting overloaded. When it finally comes back online, it resists his attempts to return to his own universe. He’s no Dick, so it takes him several more minutes to overwrite that particular bit of programming and set it to go back.

 

It’s 13 minutes from his arrival in this universe to when he presses the button that will send him back. By that point, the Leaguers have given up trying to interact with him. This is a fact he only has vague awareness of. He’s too focused on his rising panic of _not Artemis, please, not her, let me get back in time, let it take me instead, don’t let it hurt her…_

Such thoughts are still running through his head as he watches the desert re-materialize around him. Externally, everything is calm; the Anomaly seems to have gone.

 

Artemis is gone with it.

 

Wally sinks to his knees in despair. He’s having trouble breathing; for some reason, his throat feels like it’s swollen shut. He tries to focus on what to do next– she’s _not_ gone, he just needs to get up and find her – but for some reason, the only thing he can do is wonder why his hands won’t stop shaking. Wally hugs himself and bends over and until his arms are crushed between his torso and thighs. The sand he’s staring down at is beginning to get wet, and Wally can’t figure out why; it’s not raining. Wally curls in tighter to himself. This new position dislodges whatever was stuck in his throat and he’s finally able to let out a sob that’s only half choked.

 

“Artemis… Where are you?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the Reactor section makes sense. I consulted my Nuclear Engineering friend for some pointers, so it should be semi-legitimate, y’know, once you take super powers and alien tech into account, but I’m not sure it’s understandable if you didn’t have someone that knows this stuff explain it to you… please let me know!


	30. Frustration

Chicago. Istanbul. Sapporo. Angle down.

 

Gotham. Lisbon. Beijing. Angle down.

 

She’s here somewhere. Wally knows she is, and he’s going to find her. It’s only his second pass down the earth, after all. He just hasn’t looked everywhere yet. She’s fine. She’s just waiting on him, wherever she is. She has to be. He can’t lose her again.

 

Jacksonville. Cairo. Shanghai. Angle down.

 

He needs to look faster _,_ but Wally’s already feeling the pull of the Speed Force. If he’s too slow, he might lose her to the Anomaly. If he pushes it any harder, he’s not going to be able to stop. Wally doesn’t know what scares him more.

 

No. That’s not true. He knows exactly which frightens him more. It’s the question of her fate, not fear for himself, that keeps his pace steady.

Guadalupe. New Orleans. Kuwait. Angle down.

 

Wally nearly runs Shayera over as he passes through Havana. He doesn’t know how they tracked him down; he ditched his comm on his first pass through Star City. Shayera’s not _her,_ though, sister or no, so he dodges her outstretched wings and keeps going.

 

Dick blocks Wally’s path in Mumbai. They must’ve made the effort to figure out his search pattern. Well fine. If they're going to waste resources trying to stop him instead of trying to find her, then Wally doesn’t need them. He swerves around his best friend, and keeps running.

 

Unsurprisingly, they’ve coordinated intel. John doesn’t give Wally a chance to avoid him. One moment, he’s racing through a jungle in Uganda, the next he’s slamming into a glowing green wall made of light. He’s caught in John’s spectral fist and hoisted far into the air before he has a chance to recover. Dammit. John’s got him good and caught.

 

“Let go of me!”

 

“No. You – stop squirming! – need to calm down.” The emerald grip around the speedster tightens and Wally’s forced to stop struggling.

 

“I’m plenty calm! Stop interfering!” John’s not listening to him anymore. He’s calling the Watchtower, requesting their teleportation.

 

“Stop! Let me go! I have to find her!” Wally doesn’t stop yelling until they’ve phased onto the Watchtower and M’gann overrides his voice with her own mental inquiry.

 

“ _Wally! What_ happened?” Ten pairs of eyes are watching him with concern, but Wally only notices the flash of gray that’s missing.

 

“She’s gone! It found us and she tricked me away and I couldn't get back and she’s gone! Now _letmegofindher!”_

John’s grip tightens in response to his renewed struggles and Wally cries out in frustration. “ _Please!”_ No answers him. No one even moves.  In the face of their staring, concerned looks, the fight drains right out of the Scarlet Speedster and Wally stops struggling. It takes a lot of effort to fight, and too much of Wally’s energy is balled up in a knot of _worryfeardenial_ to continue _._ Said knot grows with every passing heartbeat; Wally thinks he might choke. It seems to take all of his strength to get out the words, “I can’t live without her again.”

 

Wally realizes John’s ring is now longer holding him down. Instead, it’s Diana’s hug supporting Wally as his knees grow weak with emotion.

 

“Shh. Wally. It’s okay to cry,” she says as she gives him a gentle squeeze. A moment later, there’s another hand on his arm; Kaldur is offering his silent strength and support, as always. Feathers brush his back as Shayera joins their hug. Suddenly, they’re all there. John’s ruffling his hair, M’gann and J’onn are soothing presences in the back of his mind, Dick and Conner have pulled Clark into the group hug with them. Bats doesn’t join the embrace, but Wally sees the man – who had apparently recovered from whatever the attack had done to him – quietly shooing gawking Leaguers out of the room.

 

Diana whispers to him again, “We’re here for you. What do you need us to do?”

 

Wally feels both incredibly loved and incredibly empty. He pulls his family in as tightly as he can, thankful to have such wonderful people around him. Still, he’s missing the most important one, and he can’t let that stand. His resolve hardens, cutting through the knot in his chest. He grits his teeth, and draws back enough to stare back at their worried faces.

 

“I need you to help me take down the Anomaly.”

 

XxXxX

 

Dick fills them in as they move to a more private area than the main bay. Everyone – save Batman, unsurprisingly – agrees to a temporary mind link to more efficiently share data on the Anomaly.  In this way, it takes only moments for Dick to catch them up on the highlights of their discoveries, however few they may be.

 

“That’s all you two geniuses have got?” Wally’s words are harsh, but there’s no venom to them. As stressed and angry as Wally wants to be with them, he knows that none of this is his friends’ fault. They’re only trying to help him.

 

Dick seems to sense this, and doesn’t call Wally out on his rudeness. His reply is all business. “We have been able to identify several patterns, but our analysis was… interrupted, so we haven’t been able to conclude anything from them. There’s also a _lot_ more data we haven’t even been able to get through yet. We’ve set up algorithms to help sort it, but the system only has so much processing power.”

 

“Then it’s a good thing we have some living supercomputers on our side.” Kaldur cuts in, nodding towards Wally, Conner and Clark. “Certainly, working together, we can suss out enough information to nail down its M.O. and narrow down a location?”

 

“Kaldur’s right! We’ve never actually tried to _find_ the Anomaly before. It was never really a tangible thing. But if it _took_ Artemis, then there has to be a physical place it – or he or she – went to. This might be the new perspective we need to finally make a break!” M’gann clasps her hands in her eagerness, and Wally winces. The red in M’gann’s eyes is a good reminder that Wally’s not the only one who cares deeply for Artemis. They’re all close, but after Wally, M’gann probably feels the closest to her earth-sister.

 

The space cop in John shows when he says, “If we’re trying to find it, we don’t need to know it’s whole M.O. Sort that information out and only take positional data – see if there’s any sort of preference to the locations of Anomaly attacks across the multiverse.”

 

Batman is less optimistic. “We already have the system going through the data. If something that obvious were happening, it would have been flagged by now. Besides, even if we did find a pattern in the location data, we’d be walking in blind. We’re better off searching for the Anomaly manually while the servers run. It’s more logical to be cautious when we’re talking about all of our lives over one-”

 

Wally lunges at him. Conner grabs him – luckily Wally wasn’t using his super speed – and Wally finds himself being held back for the second time that day. Before he can open his mouth to accost Bats for his callousness, Clark cuts him off.

 

“That’s cold, Bruce. Even for you.” The Dark Knight’s best friend takes a step forward.

 

Batman seems unconcerned to be facing down the most powerful man in the world. He grits his teeth and says, “I’m being realistic. This is not the optimal-”

 

“Optimal!” Diana joins Clark in facing Batman down. “Are you kidding me, Bruce? Our enemy has that girl in its clutches, and you would have us leave her there for lack of _information?”_

 

“Yes.” Wally’s shaking, unsure if he’s glad to be held back from attacking his friend or not. J’onn’s tugging in the back of his mind, trying to soothe him. M’gann joins the older Martian, trying to make sure Wally knows “ _He doesn’t mean it. He’s just scared. He’s worried too, really.”_

 

Dick shakes his head, not even seeming to need the mind link to see through Bruce’s cruelty. “I’m not buying it, Bruce. If I know anything, it’s that the _logical_ thing to do is to hit the Anomaly at the time of our choosing, rather than being caught unprepared again. Since you _insist_ otherwise, it makes me wonder: what are you up to?” Batman’s mouth twitches, and M’gann stops broadcasting his emotions with a little gasp. Wally wishes he could see under the cowl. Batman’s mask is cracking, and Wally wants to know what Bruce Wayne is feeling.

 

Finally, face under control, he grunts out, “The only thing we know that it can’t intercept is TD tech. It can track our comms, our teleportation… hell, it attacked us on the Watchtower itself. In _space._ That means we are either dealing with a being with enormous magical power – which you’ll remember _some_ of us are weak to,” he glances over at the Kryptonians, “or someone with access to technology so advanced we can’t even begin to guess what they might be able to do.”

 

The Dark Knight folds his arms over his chest, but for once, it’s not intimidating. It’s almost as if he’s… embarrassed.  “The… safest… option, is to allow me to continue my analysis and develop new technology that it _can’t_ track. Then we can send in the whole League – something we would do with any other enemy with this kind of power – and minimize casualties to our side.”

 

“But Bruce! We don’t even know if it’s the technology in the TD remotes that’s throwing the Anomaly off,” Dick protests. “For all we know, you’ll _never_ be able to develop something it can’t counter!”

 

“Do you have a better proposal?” Batman growls. “Because right now we’re up against something we can’t track, we can’t outrun and we can barely fight. I’m not letting you all go into that sort of situation blind!”

 

Dick makes to argue back with his father’s counterpart, but Wally cuts him off. The speedster’s mind is whirring. “Dick. Did the League back home ever figure out how to control the quantum tunneling effect when zeta radiation interacts with anti-quarks in the folds of space-time disruption?”

 

“No… What does that….”

 

“Look I’m the only person here who has first-hand experience with both dimension’s technology. If you guys didn’t stabilize the space-time continuum mechanically, then that means your tech can’t be more technologically advanced than our teleportation systems. Artemis is never going to let me live down admitting this, but it _has_ to be the magic that’s throwing the Anomaly off.”

 

M’gann beams. “Then we might be able to get Dr. Fate to ping it with magic where our traditional tracking methods failed! Why didn’t we think of this sooner? We’ve _seen_ them do spells like that before!”

 

“Plus, he might even be able to transport us – we actually _could_ take the whole League in,” Conner adds a little giddily, getting caught up in his girlfriend’s excitement.

 

Kaldur agrees, and asks Batman, “Would that be more _optimal?_ ” He would usually never be so antagonistic – especially not towards _Batman_ of all people – but he’s not quite ready to forget that the Dark Knight would leave one of Kaldur’s teammates to her peril. As expected, Batman doesn’t rise to the accusation in his words.

 

J’onn, however, does shoot down the idea. “Unfortunately, Dr. Fate is currently off-world.”

 

“Zatanna is here, though. Hera help us, she might be able track it.” Diana says.

 

“That doesn’t solve the problem of back up, though.” Batman disagrees. “If we don’t want this thing to run, we’ll have to use TD tech. That means five of us can go in at once, or we can send in a few groups of four. Those aren’t good odds.”

 

Wally sighs, and puts his face in his hands. “Fine,” he says, and looks up. “If this works, I have to go after her, but I understand if you all don’t want to do this-“

 

A round of disbelieving snorts and eye rolls keeps him from saying any more on that line of thinking.  Shayera even scolds him. “Don’t insult us, Wally! Of course we’re going in with you.”

 

Wally smiles at his friends’ loyalty, although it quickly fades. “Thank you. I – _Artemis_ – can’t wait any longer. We should go get Zatanna.”

 

It takes sixteen and a half minutes to locate Zatanna, get her caught up on their theory and to help her set up her detection ritual. By most anyone’s standards, they’re moving with incredible speed, but to Wally, it’s about sixteen minutes too long. Shayera has him by the hand and Clark’s got an arm around his shoulder, though, so he can only complain and tap his foot in protest.

 

M’gann, J’onn and Diana all have the most experience with magic, so they become Zatanna’s assistants, marking runes and pacing out circles to help her prepare the spell.

Dick and Kaldur spend the time arguing with Batman about their plan of attack; the Dark Knight has reluctantly agreed to the assault even with their limited numbers (He really had no choice once John declared he wouldn’t stop Wally from seeking out the Anomaly with or without the other founder’s help).

 

Before most of them know it (and long after Wally’s patience had run out) Zatanna is ready, and intones her spell.

 

_Erehw si Simetra_

_Wohs em eht seloh ni ytilaer_

_Deppir yb eht repolretni ohw dekcatta su_

_Dna deyortsed eht Rewothctaw_

_Laever ot su erehw ev’yeht enog!_

 

The ceremonial runes drawn on the floor glow as she speaks. With a flash of light, a projection of the earth hovers in the center of the room. It glows an eerie white, more ethereal and detailed than any of Nightwing’s projections. The projection is marred as she speaks the last words, though. Black-tinged red smudges the model, obscuring Paris, the Gobi Desert, and a couple dozen other places across the globe. Wally recognizes many of them as areas the League had evacuated to after the Watchtower melee. A few more are locations where the League was stranded during the Anomaly’s assault on Paris.

 

One, however, is a location that holds no significance to this world’s League; there were no reports of Anomaly activity in that region prior to this. Wally’s eyes are drawn to this place, by the green light that pulses in the middle of otherwise ominous red. He hears his Teammates gasp as they realize where Artemis – and the Anomaly – are.

 

“Such power!” Zatanna breathes as she examines the figure with the rest of them. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

 

The Team glances among themselves. As soon as they realized where the Anomaly was – _why_ it might alight on that particular moor in Scotland – everything clicked into place.

 

“We have.”

 

XxXxX

 

Artemis returns to consciousness wrapped in heat. It’s unpleasant. Not because it is too hot, as one would expect. Instead, her discomfort stems from the unnaturalness of her prison. Something about it is just… wrong.

 

She hopes death is more pleasant than this, and decides she’s probably alive. She’s not sure if she should be relieved or embarrassed. On the one hand, she’s alive. On the other hand, she was captured. She’s a _damsel in distress._ Ugh. Wally’s never going to let her live down the fact that he’s going to have to come rescue her.

 

Apparently her smile at that thought gives away her consciousness. A high-pitched voice whines in her ear, “Wakey, wakey, Archer-Baby.”

 

She opens her eyes involuntarily, and finds herself staring into pitch-black ones in return.

 

“Oh, you and I are going to have so much fun,” the being in front of her purrs, grin growing ever wider. “Your Speed-Brat is going to hate it.”

 

Artemis finds herself snarling as she realizes that she’s staring down the one who is responsible for so much of the grief in her life.

 

“ _Klarion.”_


	31. Interlude- Fixations

Interlude: Fixations

**fix·a·tion**   (fĭk-sā′shən)

  1. The act or process of fixing.
  2. An obsessive preoccupation.
  3. _Psychology_  A strong attachment to a person or thing, especially such an attachment formed in childhood or infancy and manifested in immature or neurotic behavior that persists throughout life.



 

XxXxX

 

One of the perks of being a Lord of Chaos is longevity. You’ve been around since long before anyone else can remember. It sometimes feels like it’s been longer than you can remember too, but it’s not. That’s another perk of your power: memory. For all that others call you a Witch _Boy_ , you know your immaturity is only by choice. You have experienced more than any mortal worms ever will. You can remember _everything,_ though more often than not you choose not to. The longer you think back, the more apparent it is that history repeats itself, and patterns are just so… _orderly._

That’s why, when you think of the beginning, you usually think of Teekle _._

Magic, even Chaos Magic, has rules, though you prefer not to think of them that way. Rituals confer the power needed for big magic. Runes grant control. Anchors are required for permanency.

 

The first two of these are plebian enough magicks that even _mortals_ may use them, if they become powerful enough. It is the last of these that separates _true_ mages – Lords of magic – from the average sorcerer. Only a being of your level of power could have such a pull on the universe as to need such a thing.

 

There are two main categories of anchors. Inanimate anchors tie you to your chosen plane of existence when you impart your magic and will into an object from that plane.  Their strength is based not just on the power of your magic, but also the strength of your desire to remain in your current plane of existence. They’re harder to protect and maintain, and they limit your mobility through different dimensions in a plane of existence, but they usually don’t require much of a commitment, and you can make as many of them as in your lifetime as you want. Such were your anchors for a long, long, time.

 

Animate anchors – familiars – are far more powerful, granting true permanency and thus the ability to move freely between dimensions in a plane. They require you to sacrifice an irreplaceable piece of your magical core, though, so if you are separated from your familiar, not only do you permanently lose a piece of your power, you can also never anchor yourself to another. Unless you find powerful motivation to compensate for your new – relative – weakness, even inanimate anchors will not hold you outside of your own plane for long. You will be forced back to your original plane of existence, and be powerless to leave again.

 

For a long time, you cared little for the idea of a familiar. What good is permanency– what with its stability and thus implicit _order_ – when one has access to vast reserves of the more useful power and control? Especially when you will suffer the eternal boredom of being stuck in the Chaotic Plane should something ever go wrong.

 

So went your thinking for… oh, call it eons. Longer than anyone else can imagine, at any rate.  You survived, creating temporary, inanimate anchors based on your desire for a little fun, and losing nothing when they lost their potency and you were forced to move on. You might have gone at that way forever had Fate not intervened.

 

Over the millennia, you learn that aimless freedom is so… _boring,_ even for Chaos Incarnate. Fate’s arrival in the mortal plane, and his subsequent tendency to oppose your work gave your life a bit of direction: the opposite of Fate’s.

 

Nabu, being _Orderly,_ decided not to leave your eternal struggle to the getting sent back to the Plane of Order. He created a permanent anchor in the mortal plane. _The Helmet of Fate._

 

It was quite an ingenious piece of magic, really, not that you’ll _ever_ admit it. Still, you understand his thinking. Chaos is inherently unpredictable, therefore Fate had to be ready to oppose you _anywhere._ A regular, inanimate anchor is too limiting for that _._ Similarly,Nabu is too cautious to risk being sent back to the Plane of Order permanently, so a familiar is out of the question.

 

Instead, he sacrificed his own autonomy, placing his power in the hands of a willing mortal host. By implanting his consciousness into the helmet, then splitting it across every dimension in the mortal plane, Fate gained the flexibility of a living anchor without a risk to his power.

 

Of course, you can’t let that go unchallenged. If Fate is going to stake his claim on the mortal plane, then obviously you need to stay here to stir up trouble for him.

 

You won’t do it the same way as him, though. This is partly because you never want to do anything in the same way as a Lord of Order, but mostly just because you think being stuck in a helmet would be so _boring._ That’s why you decided to take the risk of creating a familiar. In fact, you convince yourself it’s not even much of a risk. You’re a Lord of Chaos. Who could possibly overpower you to threaten your anchor?

 

So you pull apart your soul, and infuse a piece of it with the Mortal Plane. This creates Teekle.

 

Having a familiar changes everything. You are more powerful, for one. You can move anywhere in the plane, without skipping back through the Chaotic Plane, for another.  More than that, though, is that you have to actually interact with someone else after spending eons alone.

 

Suddenly, you have someone to look out for, and someone to look out for you. Reflecting your chaotic nature, she often disagrees with you, though she never truly never opposes you. She mrowls that you’re immature and unthinking and you call her Stupid Cat in return. You both know the other means it endearingly. Teekle becomes more than just the other piece of your magic. Teekle is your companion… your friend.

On a whim one day, some millennia after you made the Mortal Plane your home, you push a meteor into a collision course with a nearby planet. It doesn’t destroy as much as you hope, nor even incite the level of fear and infighting that you would expect from the primitive beings that live there. Instead, one of the idiot mortals decides to go and _sleep_ under it. For some reason, though, you stay to see what the radiation of the star-rock will do to it.

In the morn, you find the mortal faster, stronger, and _smarter_ than any of its brethren. The adaptation astonishes you; you’ve seen no other mortal race with the ability to change so widely from the average. You realize that _these_ particularmortals might be more fun than any of the others you’ve encountered. You decide to spare a couple thousand years, and see how this plays out. So begins your habitation on the seemingly unremarkable Earth.

As the population of the so-called humans grows, you lose track of your creation, the first metahuman. It’s no matter, though. There is plenty of chaos, and struggle, and _fun_ to be had. Occasionally, more meta-humans develop, some of who even try to challenge you. More frequently, the mortals develop new ways to destroy each other, with little prodding from you. Fate often shows up to heckle you, but it’s no matter to retreat from that dimension, and play in another for a while.

One day, your metahuman – _Vandal Savage –_ finds you. He says he has a plan, and he wants you to join him. Normally, you’re not one for plans, but he offers you the chance to cause so _much_ chaos… you can’t resist. You decide it might be fun to be part of a team for a little while too; Savage has the connections to find Fate, a feat you can’t accomplish on your own. Chaos’ talent for detection has, unfortunately, always been weaker than the orderly Fate’s. So you become a part of the Light, and likewise, an opponent of the League and their little Kiddies.

The first time you fight them, they’re annoying. As if putting up with Kent’s stubbornnessisn’t bad enough, you have to deal with these… these… _kids_ defeating you. Well, technically, Fate does, but they made it possible. Especially the stupid, non-believing Speed-Brat who had to go and _put the helmet on!_ In the end, you don’t get the helmet, you don’t get Fate’s secrets, and you’re forced to retreat by a group of mortal _children._ The whole affair puts the League’s kiddies on your map – especially the Speed-Brat.

The second time is a little better. Oh, they still technically defeat you, sure, but the Light got what it wanted, and you got to cause _two_ worlds worth of chaos in one night! Hearing that the little Baby-Mage cried over her father was a nice bonus, even if it means Nabu got a permanent host. You don’t forget which of your real foes escaped that night unpunished, though. The girl may have put on Fate’s Helmet and restored the worlds, but the Speed-Brat was also instrumental in stealing the gem and disrupting the ritual.

The third time is downright _fun_. When the kiddies disable your Puppet-Leaguers, they’re really doing you a service. The League is so _boring_ when they’re under control, and using them to fight the kiddies is the most fun you’ve had in a while. Even when you lose, it works out for you; the Light will have to enact plan B, and plan B is so deliciously _messy._ Oh, sure, you’d still _like_ to take them out, but your allies are right; you probably _would_ kill everyone on the Watchtower. Since you are not, in fact, the Witch _Boy_ you act like, you are able to see the long-term benefits of allowing them to live instead. Never let is be said that you would sacrifice a lot of Chaos in the long run for a little bit now.

You face them – and their growing club of little friends – four more times after that. They’re mostly inconsequential struggles. You lose some, but mostly gain at least _partial_ victories. During one of your scuffles, you even get to kill the little Water-Girl, and learn how to make the kiddies _really_ suffer. Of course, you would have tried harder to get the Speed-Brat, too, if you had known what was going to happen during your next skirmish.

You don’t even mean to fight them, the last time. You were only trying to provoke Fate; how were you supposed to know the kiddies would be so up in arms because you took the Baby-Mage? You expected Fate to come running to save his host’s little girl. You didn’t expect the kiddies to come for you first. And with such determination! You’d find it amusing if they weren’t ruining your beautifully laid plans. Honestly, they’re acting as if you have a history of killing them off or something- oh yeah. That’s probably why. Teekle rolls her eyes at you, and mrowls a reminder that she _did_ warn you.

No matter.

This time, you’re not working for the Light, so there’s only the tertiary objective of ‘don’t kill them _yet’_ holding you back from going all out. You think it will be an easy enough matter to disable them, and reset your trap for Fate.

This is, in fact, intended to be a trap, not just another skirmish.  Fate’s interference is growing tiresome, and if his allies prove to be successful over your own… well, the League might be enough to finally tip the scale in Nabu’s favor. That’s not something you dare risk, so you’re willing to resort to extreme measures.

There are very few ways to permanently harm or banish Lords of Chaos and Order, and all of them rely on the oldest and strongest of rituals. Even then, you are only an even match for Fate in the archaic ways. It would take a little something extra to give you the upper hand…

That’s why you chose this specific site. To those without magic, it probably looks like almost any other moor in Scotland. Indeed, the moor itself _is_ unremarkable. It’s placement, though… The moor sits in the shadow of an ancient castle. A very specific, very much _re_ markable castle. Ruins are all that remain of it now, but you remember it as it once was; a thriving center of knowledge. Specifically, it was the center of mortal learning in regards to the magickarts.

It so amused you, to watch those mortals scurry around, tinkering with magic as if their puny minds might one day be capable of understanding it. While a few of them may have had the talent, the majority would end up wasting their lives in fruitless pursuit of unattainable abilities. Such impotence in the face of a few colleagues’ success easily brewed jealousy and hate. Why, you barely had to do anything at all to provoke that war.

The non-gifted overwhelmed the real mages despite their magic, and ensured they were slaughtered. The magic from their blood still stains this place, and will provide you with the powered needed to take you foe down, once and for all.

That’s why it’s so inconvenient when the kiddies show up first.  There are too many ways they could mess this up for you. They could defile the runes you laid to exorcise Fate from the Helmet; his anchor to this world. They could drain you of too much power before Fate arrives, or delay you too long passed the time limit of your ritual. They might prevent Fate from coming at all, if he believes they will save the Baby-Mage for him.

They could target your Teekle, and permanently cripple your power.

“We figured out your weakness, Klarion!” In the midst of your battle, the Speed-Brat whooshes up to you. You claw at the boy as he ducks in past your shields, and manage to catch his goggles in your burning hand. He dodges further injury, though, and continues passed you and back out of the range of your attacks. You realize that he scooped up your Teekle on the way.

You’re not concerned, at first; your magic will protect her form any attack the kiddies might conceive of. After a moment, though, you notice the inhibiter collar the Brat must have clicked on you as he passed by. In the same instant, he skids to a stop, tossing your Teekle on to the runes you set up to trap Fate. “Fate said there’s not point in trying to hold you. That doesn’t mean we can’t at least get rid of you. How long do you think you can stay here without your familiar anchoring you?” ~~~~

“No, no, no, no, _no!”_ You screech as you watch your very own ritual strip your magic from Teekle’s portion of your soul. Before your eyes, she withers away to dust. Your own hands becomes translucent. There’s no time to grieve, though; the kiddies aren’t as dumb as you like, and press the advantage. Your semi-tangibility allows you to slip from the collar, but doesn’t mean you’re impervious from harm. There’s no way for you to dodge all the attacks; an arrow, water, a boomerang, two super-enhanced punches, and a telekinetically thrown boulder all converge on your location. You pull all the magic you can back from your surroundings, and retreat.

You don’t know where you are when you fall out of your portal on the other side. It’s definitely still the Mortal Plane, though, so they must not have hit you. Still, this could be any of the almost infinite Earths in the multiverse. Without an anchor, you may never find your way back to the dimension you have called “home” these past few years.

With Teekle gone – Gone! – you need to make a new anchor quickly or be pulled back to the Chaotic Plane. Luckily, you’re still holding the lens from the Speed-Brat’s ruined goggles. It’s not the sturdiest of materials for this sort of work, but you’re confident your magic can make up for that; vengeance is a powerful force for Chaos. Your need to remain is more than strong enough to compensate for your now reduced state. It won’t give you the freedom that having Teekle as an anchor did, but it will allow you to accomplish your goals before you’re exiled back to the Chaotic Plane.

Besides, it just seems… fitting, somehow, that he should give you this. He took away what was yours, after all. It’s only fair that he give you something in return. The fact that he’s giving you a chance at his own demise is just your luck.

_Teekle. My poor, Stupid Cat._

The Speed-Brat won’t have any idea what’s about to hit him. Fate himself has never cost you so much as this, this… _Boy,_ and thus has never seen your true wrath. You willmake him pay. Dearly. With everything you have.

It’s not long after you re-establish your tangency that you see _him_ again. It’s not _your_ Speed-Brat; the boy is definitely smaller than the cretin that took away your Teekle. Still, it’s quite satisfying when you run him down with an ephemeral tiger and claw him to shreds. In your rage, you kill him too quickly. His pain doesn’t last long enough. So, you decide to test your new anchor’s limits and try dimension crossing again. You find the your magic holds, but you can’t go far. It’s enough. You find new versions of the Speed-Brats on every world, and every time you move on, the multiverse is short one more Wally West.

In each dimension, you kill him a little differently. It’s fun, coming up with new ways to kill him, to hurt his friends, to thwart those who stand in your way. It becomes a new game for you, and you decide to challenge yourself to cause as much chaos as you can in the process. Such petty vengeance is enough to keep you content, but it does little for the ache in your soul every time you turn to call for your Stupid Cat. You wish more than anything for a chance to take down _your_ Speed-Brat. You will make him pay for taking away _your_ power, _your_ Teekle. Your friend.

It’s lucky you’re close enough to “home” to feel it when Savage finally, _finally_ releases the magic you left him. The teleportation spell calls to you like a beacon, so although you can only move slowly through the multiverse with your current anchor, you can at least stop dallying and head straight back. You will have your revenge – it’s so close now you can taste it.

Except then it isn’t.

Apparently the little Speed-Brat is already dead; he got caught up _saving the world_ in the wake of the Reach’s little hissy fit. The new Speed-Brat is just some Time-Baby that won’t even recognize you. When you hear the news, you throw a _little_ hissy fit of your own. Savage tries to soothe you and Luthor tries to distract you with plans for the Apokalyptan invasion. Luthor’s a smooth operator, and if you were actually the immature brat you act like, his diversion might have worked.

You like Apokolypse. For all that Darkseid claims to rule with an iron fist, the being’s cruelty instead inspires more anarchy than lawfulness in even its “obedient” citizens. You also like the idea of this invasion; it would likely wipe out the Justice League once and for all, and most likely destroy any order left on the planet. Under any other circumstances, you might be giddy with excitement.

Unfortunately, you can’t truly delight in the impending chaos. For perhaps the first time in your existence, something is more important to you than disorder.

Kid Flash – _Wally West,_ Al Ghul tells you, when he recovers from his time in the Lazarus Pit – has wronged you. You can’t make him pay personally, but there is something you can do to those he cares for. The multiverse doesn’t need any Wally Wests. You’ve _so_ enjoyed watching him die, again and again and again. If you can’t have _him,_ you’ll have the rest.

Newly directionless, you give yourself more time to kill each one and get even more creative. You possess more powerful villains. You manipulate the Speed-Brat’s friends. You set up unbeatable odds and watch as your foe falls again and again. Sometimes, you’re able to set up whole conspiracies, and leave knowing the League will tear itself (or the government, or the world, it doesn’t matter) apart in your wake. Other times, you savor the Speed-Brat’s despair before you kill him and make only his life spin out of control. It goes quite well for a while.

One day, though, you do a double-take. There are definitely _two_ Archer-Babies fighting you. By the end of the battle, there’re two of all the little kiddies, except, of course, for the Speed-Brat. There’s _none_ of him.

Ten people despair, and it’s not very long at all before the blame game starts; one set of kiddies turns on the other, and the latter is forced to make a hasty retreat.

As Water-Boy carries the Archer-Baby away – the _poor_ thing is broken physically and emotionally – he murmurs, “Artemis, it was not him. He was not ours. This is not your fault any more than the North Pole was. We will save him next time.”

You nearly cry out with glee and give away your position. These aren’t some cloned kiddies or even random kiddies from another dimension. These are _his_ kiddies – _your_ kiddies. And they intend to try to stop you again! Oh, how wonderful. You’ll get to see them fail again and again! It’s going to hurt them _so_ much.

Of course, this only makes it all the more important that they don’t know it’s you. They’ve learned your tricks, and might be able to actually resist you if they knew. You’ll have to be more discrete, attack the Speed-Brat even less directly. That’s fine, though. You have an eternity to ensure the Speed-Brat is wiped from existence. There’s no harm in slowing down a little just to savor their despair.

And so life continues. You do your best – which, by all accounts is _very_ good – to be unpredictable. You never kill the Speed-Brat the same way twice. You delay the League and the kiddies in different ways. Sometimes you draw out their pain. Often, you draw out his.

It’s during one of the latter that this all comes to head.

You hate to tip your hand too soon, so you tend to avoid the Watchtower – and Fate – unless it’s absolutely necessary. You magically “watch” their teleportation beams instead. Finally, one of the ones you check is the Speed-Brat. _How cute_ , you think, and _how perfect._

He’s been sent down to search for the Legion of Doom’s headquarters. It’s easy enough for you to nudge this Luthor’s mind however you want. You don’t know what drove him crazy, but his mind is so perfectly disorganized... well, it would just be criminal not to take advantage of it. So Luthor sends his goons out, and the Speed-Brat is captured.

You have time, so your treat yourself; they don’t kill him right away. You make Luthor think that he has a plan, and that they need information from the Speed-Brat. You let his underlings get creative.

The Speed-Brat sure knows how to scream, you’ll give him that.

Eventually, the Archer-Baby-In-Disguise comes to rescue him. You’re about to allow it – her pain is especially gratifying to you, and there’s no need to rush this execution – when he recognizes her as _her._ That’s unusual enough, but then she accepts him as _him_ and you almost can’t breathe.

It can’t be.

It’s _him._

He’s _here._

You might… this could be… if this is _him…._

The Archer-Baby confirms it, and the closest thing to joy you’ve ever felt floods through your veins.

That’s when you sound the alarm. You can’t let this golden opportunity get away. And if the other kiddies come to find their missing comrade? You’ll end them all. Your vengeance will finally be complete.

Unfortunately, your minions are far less competent than your former partners; the two escape. You decide against following them immediately. There’s no reason to waste your one chance to end the Speed-Brat. If you’re going to do this, it’s going to be big. Your thoughts suddenly recall your work with Professor Ivo, as well as his all the trouble his little machines caused the League. Your smile curls upward to an inhuman degree as a plan forms in your mind. You are going to have _so much fun_ with this.

Unfortunately sending hundreds of androids to dozens of places _and_ coordinating them across the world _and_ shutting down League transportation is a drain on the weakened state of your magic (how you curse the Speed-Brat for that!). By the time the rest of the kiddies show up there’s little more you can do to take them on. Not with Fate’s magic augmenting the teleportation gear in their hands. It would be too easy for them to retreat now… and take the Speed Brat with them. If they’re smart – and they might be – you’d never find them. Or at least, you’d never be able to keep up with them. No. It’s better to regroup, separate their forces, and then attack again when they’re not expecting it.

You think the third time will again be the charm. Why the very _mortal_ League thinks it’s a good idea to base their HQ in a very _vulnerable_ satellite in the very _deadly_ vacuum of space, you have no idea. It’s probably your best shot, though, once you learn Fate’s away. A little possession to send away the big guys, a little flame to take out their critical systems… It’s easy. You’re more than capable of taking them down, if they would just stop _fighting back._

Then! Oh, and then! The Speed-Brat has to go and _fix_ the reactor and give everyone a chance to escape. He even has the _gall_ to leave before you find him. What a _hero,_ you think spitefully. Luckily, you find him again quickly. And he’s with his little Archer-Baby too! They were dumb enough to use the League’s teleportation tech instead of Fate’s. Well, they’ll pay for that.

“There’s no escape now!” you want to shout, but hold it in. You don’t need to monologue. You don’t want him to understand why he’s going to die. The fear and despair in his eyes is enough for you as you close in….

And then he’s gone.

You scream in rage as you feel the flare of Fate’s magic, and he slips through your grasp once again. For several moments, the world burns red.

When you’re aware of yourself again, you find out he left you a little gift. _They_ didn’t escape. He did. The Archer-Baby is unconscious at your feet. One more, final, plan, begins to form in your mind. He’ll come for her. They all will. And that’s how he’ll make them all pay. He surrounds the girl in a bubble of his magic, content that she won’t be able to escape on her own. Your prisoner means that, for once, the Speed-Brat is going to come to you. You hold all the cards this time. You get to choose the location and method of the Speed-Brat’s final demise. You know _just_ where you want him to find you.

This ends now.


	32. Termination

With the new information the Team is able to provide on Klarion, Batman’s reluctance to join in the assault wanes. With Bruce’s assistance, the heroes quickly develop a plan; they decide to take advantage of Klarion’s inability to track the TD tech and use the five remotes to stage their attack.

 

First, Wally and Clark beam down to the desert where Artemis and Wally were separated. They purposefully take League teleporters down, risking interception by Klarion in the hopes that, if he’s still watching them, he’ll think they’re still looking for him. Why else would the League’s two fastest members return to the scene of the crime, so to speak, and immediately begin circling up the globe, as if continuing Wally’s search pattern from earlier?

 

Klarion shouldn’t guess that it’s to conceal the presence of Conner and Dick, who had used two of the TD tech remotes (before sending them back to the Watchtower with Kaldur) to meet them. Clark and Wally easily scoop up their respective brothers and continue on their way. Slowly, they make their way up to England, where Diana and John are staging to carry Bruce and Kaldur to the battlefield. Adjusting for their differing speeds and distances from Klarion’s moor, all eight of them should arrive at about the same time, hopefully to the surprise of the Witch Boy. M’gann, J’onn and Shayera leave for Earth last; their chosen staging point is a small cluster of trees adjacent to the moor.

 

From there, M’gann and J’onn should be able to coordinate the initial simultaneous attack, then use the TD tech to teleport in while Klarion’s distracted. Shayera can then use her Nth metal mace to smash through Klarion’s defenses, leaving him open to the others attacks, and hopefully distracting him enough that Kaldur can move in and free Artemis with his sorcery. If all goes well, they can finish this before Klarion even knows what hit him.

 

If all goes well.

 

XxXxX

 

J’onn meditates as he waits in a copse of trees near Klarion’s moor with his niece and Shayera. Well, he’s attempting to, anyways.

 

Shayera, not unusually, seems somewhat agitated. The Thanagarian keeps pacing between the trees, occasionally flexing her wings and brandishing her mace. J’onn can’t help but think that it looks like she’s intimidating the trees to warm up for the coming battle.

 

In contrast, M’gann is… utterly calm. Almost eerily so. She sits in a meditative pose that mirrors his own, but _her_ emotions don’t seem to roil like his do.  He knows she is focused on the task at hand – stretching her mind as far to the South as she can, and as far East and West as she dares – so that she can catch their friends as early as possible and coordinate the attack. As with the rest of the plan, she risks detection by Klarion, but she doesn’t seem to acknowledge that danger.

 

Unlike him, she is confident in her ability to link her friends successfully. She’s had plenty of practice at it, after all. In that, J’onn envies M’gann. She has spent so much time in her teammates’ heads that she’s not even giving it a second thought. She knows it will go smoothly, that she and her team will fight as one, as they always have. J’onn so wishes he could be so confident.

 

 _“You should be this confident, Uncle J’onn.”_ She encourages him gently. “ _You can do this, I know it.”_

She touches on his memories of his own mental acuity, highlighting his vast experience. She pulls on his own interactions with his teammates, and even how he’s kept somewhat in practice by occasionally linking with Wally. Then, she sends over a few of her own – just little ones, just enough to emphasize how _easy_ it is, how he certainly won’t have any trouble

 

Her confidence rolls back through the bond, this time an assurance for _him_ rather than herself. Her belief in him is gratifying, if a little naïve. He can’t help but wonder, “ _How can you be so calm? Aren’t you angry, or scared, or worried?”_

She lets him in a little more, and he can feel the answer: she _is._ She’s so worried – almost heartsick – for Artemis. She’s so afraid for them – afraid of failing them – in this upcoming battle. Most of all, she’s _furious_ with Klarion and all he’s put them through.

 

Still, despite these strong, reasonable, emotions, she’s still in control. Her sadness is not the despair that echoed through her soul, almost killing her teammates during their ‘unwinnable’ training simulation. Her fear is not the terror that compelled her to meddle in Conner’s mind when he confronted her over her interrogation methods. Her fury not the anger that overwhelmed such that she tore apart Kaldur’s mind as revenge for Artemis’ “death.”

 

 _“We’ve all faced so much.”_ She reminds him. “ _I will never let such things control me again. Not when my Team needs me to be in control.”_

_“You make it sound so simple.”_

_“I don’t mean to. It was a hard fight to balance this kind of determination. It’s just… I can’t help but believe in them. And I’ll do anything in my power to make sure we win this one._

Her assertion is accompanied by such strong emotions that J’onn can’t help but get caught up in agreement. Before he can respond, though, her head swivels towards the south and he feels her catch her Teammate’s mind. He uses that as his guide, reaching out until he brushes minds with the other Leaguers. One by one, they yield, despite their discomfort with the intimacy of it all. Even Bruce lets him in with only minimal hesitation. After a few moments, the Leaguers begin to adjust. Something about the link just feels… like it belongs.

The whole process takes only a few heartbeats, and before J’onn realizes it, M’gann is reaching out to Artemis; the final step before the assault.

 

J’onn steels himself, and feels the other founders do the same. Their determination bleeds into his, solidifying the link. In the instant before they begin, J’onn decides to reach out to Wally too. The speedster gladly accepts him, despite already being linked up with M’gann. It just feels… right, to have all the founders together like this.

 

J’onn does his best to hold on to that feeling. He refuses to think that this might be the first and _last_ time he’ll ever have his family safe and close like this.

 

Then, M’gann is pulling Artemis into the link and helping them all see Klarion’s position. It’s time.

XxXxX

 

It takes all the control Artemis has not to give anything away when she feels M’gann’s mind brush her own. Luckily, if there’s one thing Artemis has learned these past years, it’s control. Klarion even doesn’t seem to notice her sudden alertness; he doesn’t miss a single beat in his diatribe. Good.

 

Artemis opens her mind just a little wider to her sister, allowing the Martian to glean all she can about the situation. Artemis can feel the information disseminating to the rest of her Team, and even to… the League Founders? She catches a glimpse of their plan and tries not to let her hopes rise too high. This… might actually work. Artemis does her best to ready herself to fight. Unfortunately, Klarion was thinking clearly enough to relieve her of her weapons, but she’ll find a way to make do.

 

 _“Brace yourself.”_ M’gann warns and Artemis does.

 

Almost instantly, a red blur comes charging in from her right, Klarion’s back. At the same time, a blue streak zooms in from her left. The blue being – who Artemis realizes must be Superman – slams into the Witch Boy’s face. Simultaneously, the red blur – her Wally – slides easily across the soft ground of the moor to take out Klarion’s feet. The combined hits send Klarion flying back, right into the newly appeared Shayera’s mace.

 

There’s a resounding crack as the Nth metal smashes through the Witch Boy’s wards and into the back of his head. Artemis marvels at the Thanagarian’s ability to aim despite the disorientation that comes with using TD tech. M’gann and J’onn must be helping her, she realizes.

 

The others arrive before Klarion even hits the ground. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern move to incapacitate their foe physically. The mind link cuts out as J’onn and M’gann teleport in and focus their attention on attacking the villain mentally. Artemis doesn't see what happens after that. The crackling electricity of Kaldur’s sorcery blurs the cage-orb around her, and she suddenly finds strong arms holding her steady as she struggles to regain her bearings.

 

“Thanks Kal,” she murmurs, and gives herself a couple of breaths to gather her strength in the comfort of her old partner’s embrace. She pulls away as soon as she thinks she’s steady, though, to face the battle that still rages beside them.

 

It seems Klarion managed to evade most of John’s constructs, as the two are still exchanging deadly blasts of light. Diana’s lasso seems to have caught one of his wrists, at least, though she’s no longer holding the other end. Artemis catches a glimpse of the Amazon’s red, blistered hands as she moves to join Green Lantern’s attacks and realizes the Lord of Chaos must have been able to overcome the lasso’s magic with his own flame-sorcery.

 

The Martians seem to be having more success. Their mental attacks are slowing the Witch Boy down by quitea lot. Enough that Batman and Nightwing are taking the risk of moving closer, bringing the fight close-range. Artemis and Kaldur move instinctively to support them, and she notices the gleam of inhibitor collars in the Bats’ hands.

 

“ _Come on…_ ” she whispers to no one in particular as she charges the Witch Boy, desperately hoping this will work…

 

“No, no, _no!_ ” Klarion rages and bursts into flame. “ _Stop it!”_

On his last outburst, the flame around him grows into a column, then rushes out straight at them…

 

Artemis hears Kaldur do something he’s never done before: swear.

 

_“Shit.”_

XxXxX

 

John mentally vows to do something nice for Katma Tui the next time he sees his old teacher.  It’s only her hellacious training that allowed him the reflexes to throw up a shield in time to block most of Klarion’s attack. He even managed to extend his protection to the magically vulnerable Kryptonians near him. They’re still knocked back by the burst of magical flame, but at least they're standing.

 

Aqualad, likewise, seems to have been able to protect Artemis, Nightwing and Batman from what would probably have been a lethal attack at that range. Wally seems to have escaped the blast mostly unscathed, though he’s limping – the fire seems to have partially caught him when he went back to pull Shayera to safety with him.

 

Diana took the blast straight on. It’s lucky she’s somewhat resistant to magic. The Amazon looks more than a little worse for the wear, but she’s at least – with some difficulty – able to stand under her own power. J’onn and M’gann also took the blast head on, and each lies in a heap on the ground. They’re not moving.

 

It takes John only a moment to process all of this, a good thing since a moment is really all he has.

 

“So _that’s_ how you want to play?” The Witch Boy hisses, voice pitching up as he speaks. “Bring it on, then. I’ll make you _all_ pay for this!”

 

Klarion’s heaving with rage, but otherwise looking fairly unscathed for all the damage they thought they’d done to him. Unnatural red flames lick the sorcerer’s feet, but he doesn’t seem to notice. _Of course not_ , John realizes as he notices the lambent sheen around the Witch Boy. _He’s reconstructing his wards._ John immediately drops his own shield and levels a light beam at Klarion, hoping to at least knock the villain off-balance so he can’t finish reconstructing his defenses.

 

No dice. The green bolt ricochets off the wards and Klarion wheels to face him unharmed. In the face of a new barrage of attacks, John can do little more than will his own shield to hold.

 

XxXxX

 

Conner is thankful for John’s protection; he knows the green glow he saw just before Klarion’s blast blinded him probably saved his life. Still, it’s hard not to be a little resentful as he rushes over to where the love of his life lays crumpled on the ground. M’gann is just as weak to flame as he is to magic, after all, and if something happened to her…

 

Conner’s heart stutters as he scoops her up and carries her out of Klarion’s immediate range. He’s vaguely aware of Clark doing the same thing for J’onn out of the corner of his eye, but is too focused on fluttering heartbeat of the limp green woman in his arms.  It’s barely there, but Conner feels it clearly as he holds her close to his own heart.

 

“ _Thank Rao_ ,”* he whispers as he lays her down and begins to administer field aid to the worst of her burns. He wants so much to keep himself between her and the threat at their back, but too many years of training remind him that it’s better – for all of them – if he keeps an eyes on the battle instead.

 

It’s a good thing he does too. His friends are doing their best with the counter-attack, but they’ve lost the element of surprise. The growing number of injuries they’re suffered is only compounding the problem. If something doesn’t change soon, they’re going to lose this battle. When M’gann seems to be stable under his hands, he’s forced to make one of the most painful decisions of his life. Still, he pushes down his desperate worry and focuses instead on his other friends’ peril. It’s this determination to save the rest of their family that keeps him from glancing back as he rushes back into the fray.

 

So focused is he that he misses the warm brown eyes that flutter open to watch his retreating back. Even with his super-hearing, he doesn’t hear the knowing, worried moan, “Conner… _no._ ”

 

XxXxX

 

Even in the heat of battle, Bruce can’t help but admire the naturalness of the movement amongst the younger heroes. Without thought, Nightwing, Artemis, and Aqualad move to encircle the Witch Boy. Bruce instinctively mimics them, falling back to cover Klarion’s fourth side. Kaldur is making his stand at Klarion’s front. His sorcery makes him the biggest threat, and together with John’s attempts to draw the Chaos Lord’s fire, allows him to act as a good distraction for the non-metas around him.

 

Nigthwing’s hands twitch, almost imperceptibly.  Bruce thinks he recognizes the pellets that have appeared between the boy’s fingers as restraining foam. It’s probably their best option, he thinks in agreement with the boy’s choice. With Klarion’s shields back up and the inhibitor collars lost in the blast, there’s – as much as Bruce hates to admit it – not much else they can do but restrain their foe so their allies can recover.

 

He notices Artemis eyeing the lasso that’s still hanging off of Klarion’s right wrist – the arm closest to her. He supposes there’s little else the weaponless archer can do short of simply tackling the Witch Boy, and silently pulls out a wire-wrapped batarang so he can match her.

 

Then, on some unconscious signal, they all move.

 

Kaldur adds electricity to the water stream Klarion’s so far been able to block, as if to cut through the Witch Boy’s shields. John is still firing at the villain from above, keeping enough of his attention that Nightwing’s pellets and Bruce’s batarang go unnoticed long enough to strike true. At the same time, Artemis lunges for the end of Diana’s lasso.

Bruce pulls on his wire as she does, and together, they pull Klarion’s arms out of position enough to drop his shield.

 

Kaldur’s attack is able to cut a hole through the remaining wards. Klarion starts to stumble back, but the high-density polyethylene foam around his feet tangles his legs up. Wally and Shayera, too, have finally made it back, and are pressing the attack before Klarion even hits the ground. For an instant, they have the upper hand.

 

Then, Klarion splays his hands and releases a concussive blast that sends Hawk Girl and Flash slamming back into the ground. With another whisper, the Lord of Chaos sets runes glowing on the ground around him. The runes rush away from the Witch Boy, racing out to wrap around the heroes in Klarion’s range. Bruce feels the runes squeeze him, as if they as if they had a physical weight, before a scorching shock races through his body.

 

Klarion’s disturbing cackling is the last thing Bruce is aware of before the world goes black.

 

XxXxX

The touch is subtle. It’s not enough draw Klarion’s attention, but more than enough to ensure J’onn is conscious and get his attention. Concerned, J’onn lets M’gann in immediately even as he tries to orient himself physically to check on her. She was so close to the blast…

 

That’s not the kind of help she needs, though. A hesitant idea trickles through the link, followed by more persuasive assertions as M’gann shares her memories of Klarion’s plans and the last few minutes of the battle. Apparently Klarion has the whole moor rigged with rituals and runes, and should he get the chance to activate many of them… well. They need to end this before he can.

 

J’onn’s hesitant to agree to her idea, though. He’s never heard of anyone doing something like what she’s suggesting before. He certainly never would have thought to do it with the other Leaguers… _“This is a huge breach of privacy. It might not even work.”_

_“I know. Trust me, I know.”_ He knows she does, too. Even if he couldn’t feel the guilt and fear warring within her, he saw her regrets during their mind meld. M’gann _swore_ she would never betray her teammate’s trust again. Some might consider her plan exactly such a betrayal, though she thinks this is different. It’s necessary. _“I don’t know what else we can do.”_ He doesn’t either. _“I can lose their trust_ _if it will save their lives. Are you willing to risk the same?”_

He glances across the battlefield, where half of his family lays trapped or unconscious, and the other half is fighting for their lives. Even as he watches, another blast from Klarion knocks them down and back. More than one voice cries out in pain.

 

Any reservations he might have leave him at the sound. “ _I am.”_

With a mental nod they release _all_ of their barriers and, as they did during their own mind-meld, pull their family _in_ with a swirl of memories.

XxXxX

 

_How can Gar still call you sister after you let his mom die and marked him as a freak?_

_You convince yourself you’re a normal farm boy, right up until the bullet bounces off of you._

_A gun goes off twice. Bang. Bang. Your parents fall._

_The spotlight follows their bodies all the way down to the ground._

 

_“Get up, Shayera. You knew we wouldn’t all survive this war.”_

_Your captain says Marines don’t grieve until the living all make it out._

_You help the other young heroes get out. They give you Superman and the moon in return._

_Moonshine lights your first view of the surface world. It’s beautiful._

 

_Man’s world is different from Themiscyra, but still beautiful. You hope you’re strong enough to save it._

_You calls on the strongest of the new world to defend it from the White Martians. You hope they’re strong enough to compensate for your failure…_

_You know you’re too slow. That you’ve failed them. You just need her to know you love her before the end…_

_Your arrows are useless as the Anomaly’s flames swirl around you, but you won’t let this be his end. You hope he knows how sorry you are to leave him again._

 

XxXxX

 

The world seems to come back to Artemis slowly as her mind adjusts to the unfamiliar memories.

 

Something’s still not right though. Everything seems to be moving... sluggishly. Her belt is too heavy with weapons. Her boots seem to have developed heels. Her wings… wait, what?

 

Artemis – they – begin to realize what’s happening. Well, J’onn and Batman figured it out. She thinks. The link is too strong. Their identities and perceptions have blended, as if they were a single, continuous mind…

 

All this happens in what is probably a millisecond, thanks to the speed of Wally’s – _their_ – thoughts. It’s a good thing for the brevity of their confusion too. They are in nearly the same position as they were before the Martians pulled their minds together, though now they’re at least all conscious again.

 

Klarion wheels to face a charging Superman. Once again, runes glow across the moor, and Clark only barely dodges the mystical tendrils that lash out at him as M’gann’s memory rushes through their minds. Dick attempts to take advantage of the Witch Boy’s distraction to back flip off of Diana’s braced hands, but Klarion deterred Clark too quickly, he’s turning back around…

 

….to Dick, who’s midway through a twist that leaves him exposed to the blast of light Klarion is shooting at his back. Artemis watches it with Wally’s speed of perception, agonizingly aware of her inability to do anything but watch as the blast arcs towards her teammate -

 

-And she’s already running, but that attack is nearly point blank, she’s not going to make it-

 

-and she thinks _Not My Son!-_

-and the ring on her finger glows with her will. A barrier forms between the attack and the acrobat, shielding him from the blast-

 

-but the Dick’s still falling; the backlash from the blast knocked him out of his back-flip and sent him hurtling toward the ground. –

 

-At this rate he’ll land on his head. Fragile human necks aren’t meant to withstand that-

 

-so she reaches out her mind and _pulls_ his foot-

 

-so she braces her ankle to impact the imaginary wall and _pushes,_ correcting her rotation in time to land somewhat gracelessly on her feet.

 

Klarion looks as surprised as Artemis feels. For a stunned second, no one moves.

 

Then, they realize what this new level of teamwork might allow them to do. With only a subconscious check, they agree to a new assault.

 

Kaldur and Dick take advantage of the Martians’ precise telekinesis. Used to fighting in water and air, respectively, the Team leaders take advantage of this chance to fight in all three dimensions, herding the Witch Boy back into the others’ attacks any time he attempts to escape or regroup.

 

Bruce feels free to hurl batarangs at their target without worry of harming his allies; they know exactly where his projectiles are going to be, and won’t accidently step into their path. In fact, the Dark Knight even throws a couple explosive charges _past_ the Lord of Chaos, knowing Diana can deflect them straight back at Klarion with her bracers. The Witch Boy, caught of guard, is greeted repeatedly with a face full of smoke.

 

Clark and Conner take advantage of their foe’s blindness to duck in with a series of super-punches. The two weave between each other with the grace of long-practiced partners, taking advantage of Superboy’s extensive experience with Black Canary’s partner training.

 

Together, they keep Klarion on his toes, and, with M’gann’s stolen knowledge of Klarion’s prepared rituals, keep him from activating any of his more powerful magic.

 

Unfortunately, Klarion still has his wards woven tightly around himself, so while their attacks have done little real damage to the Witch Boy, the Kryptonians are burned terribly by every punch. They quickly realize this and pull back. With their augmented brainstorming capabilities, the twelve heroes decide on a new plan of attack with barely a moment’s hesitation.

 

When Klarion whirls to attack M’gann and end the mind meld, Artemis’ hand twitches for a bow. The ring on Artemis’ – John’s – finger glows, and “her” bow, perfectly balanced and smooth, despite its hard-light construction – forms in her hand. Ring-made projectiles would be useless, John’s memories tell them, and her – Kaldur’s – tattoos glow in response, condensing water into a pre-knocked arrow.

 

It flies straight for Klarion’s back. It, along with a mental barrage from J’onn – with additional strength lent by Clark and Conner – distracts Klarion enough for Shayera to swoop in from above. Her mace smashes through Klarion’s wards and straight into his face.  Wally follows through, zipping by to punch the Witch Boy before the hole in his shield knits back together.

 

The force of the blows send the Witch Boy flying back, though Wally’s momentum carries him still further before he can slide to a stop.

 

Unfortunately, the jolt of pain as the physical attacks connect also sends a shock back through J’onn’s mental probe, making them all wince.

 

The moment of hesitation is enough for Klarion to recover. With a burst of flame, he once again knocks J’onn and M’gann from the sky. The Martian’s incapacitation abruptly shatters the mind link, so Artemis is alone when she thinks, _“Oh, No.”_ as the Witch Boy morphs into his Chaotic Demon form.

 

“That’s _enough!”_ He shrieks, eyes glowing. Runes glow everywhere, burnt into the ground and projected on to the now-black sky in the Lord of Chaos’ rage. “ _This. Ends. Now.”_

XxXxX

 

Wally’s momentum only just carries him out of Klarion’s range. When wally whirls around to face his foe again, he takes in the changes to the battlefield in a fraction of a second. Despite the magic-blackened sky, the world seems to glow, courtesy of Klarion’s runes, so Wally has a clear view of his foe. Klarion has trapped the other heroes in the same kind of flaming spheres as Artemis was. The Lord of Chaos stands at the center of his captured prizes, grin stretched obscenely wide across his face as he stares Wally down.

 

“What now, little speedster? All out of ideas?” Klarion flexes his hands. In response, the spheres contract, and their captives cry out in pain. Wally’s eyes narrow. _No._

Almost in response to his desperation, a glint of light catches his eye. Wally takes a second look at the battered Witch Boy… and notices the familiar lens that hangs over from Klarion’s now-exposed chest. At once, M’gann and Zatanna’s lessons in magic come back to him.

 

A plan forms in Wally’s mind. He calls on every wisp of the Speed Force he’s ever felt. He can feel it enveloping him, comforting him, telling him to _run._

 

Wally does.

 

It feels like he reaches Klarion in an instant. As he approaches, he can see a thin, protective sheen around the Witch Boy’s figure. No matter. Wally has protection of his own now. Klarion’ smirks as Wally claws his hand, reaching out as if to gouge the villain’s eyes or to punch him in the nose. Instead, at the last instant, he reaches for the small, familiar circle of glass attached to Klarion’s chest. His hand burns as he touches the protective magicks around the lens, but it’s no matter. The Speed Force heals his hand as quickly as it is damaged.

 

The Witch Boy’s smile disappears as Wally’s hand closes around the glass piece. Luckily, Wally’s momentum continues to carry him forward, past and away from the Lord of Chaos.

 

Klarion may be quick enough to follow what’s happening, but he’s not quick enough to react to it. That means Wally has time to turn around and take in the magician’s fury in all its glory. First Klarion whips around to face him, dropping the lambent cages that hold Wally’s family while he’s at it. When Wally tauntingly waves the lens and grins back at the scowling Witch Boy, Klarion really loses it. With a scream of pure rage, he unleashes a wall of fire straight at speedster.

 

Wally is unconcerned. He is cocooned in the Speed Force, and thus could give himself eons before the attack reached him, if he wanted. He uses the time to examine the lens in his hand, and get mental confirmation from M’gann that his guess was right; this is, in fact, Klarion’s new anchor. The fire’s only halfway to him when he takes the glass piece between his hands, and begins applying pressure. Whether Wally’s old lens had become brittle from the current of magic flowing through it, or because his own adrenalin added to his power, Wally will never know. What’s important, though, is how the lens – his lens – crumples between his palms, how the fire dissolves inches from his face, and how Klarion’s screams of rage turn into screams of pain.

 

Wally tosses the dust into the air, letting scatter on the wind. Klarion was already losing form, but with that gesture, swirling red engulfs him entirely. For an instant, everything seems to be drawn towards the dark red center of the mass. Even Wally can’t help but take a half-step towards it. Then, as if it had never been, the swirl implodes, leaving neither sound nor sight nor any other evidence it has ever existed.

 

Klarion is gone, and can never return.

 

It’s over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Rao is the Kryptonian sun god
> 
> AN: Whew. It’s finally over. Well I mean, the story’s not. There’s a ridiculous amount of dénouement to get through, and I haven’t even finished writing it yet! I’ve written a lot of it though, so hopefully the rest of the updates will be pretty regular. I’m obviously not going to make my goal of finishing by the anniversary, but I might make my secret goal of getting this fic to 100k words! Who’d of thought I’d ever get anywhere near that? Wish me luck.
> 
> I just want to thank you all again for sticking with me through this whole thing. I still get excited every time I see I have a new favorite/follow/review. Seriously, you all mean so much to me, and I never would have gotten this far without you. So thanks, dear readers, for being so wonderful, and as always, I’m open to any comments or criticism you might have for me.


	33. Celebration

With Klarion’s demise, the last of the magic encasing Wally’s family dissolves. He’s already moving, though, and sweeps Artemis up into his arms even before she can fall the few inches that are between her and the ground.

 

“I’m sorry, it’s over, don’t you _ever do that again,_ we won, _I love you_ , _”_ They’re both saying, it and they’re both thinking it and they both know it. Their cheeks are wet but their kisses are firm and it’s too much, but it’s also not enough, it will never be enough, not after everything.

 

At some point he finds himself embracing the others, too. As before the battle, he takes comfort in Diana’s tender assurances, Clark’s firm hugs, Dick’s noogies, and a dozen others touches of love. This time, though, Artemis’ hand is in his, and his family wants to be near him out of celebration, not fear. Someone – maybe even Wally himself – is laughing.

 

It’s _glorious._

Eventually, someone thinks to call up the Watchtower, and they get beamed back up to the satellite.  Somehow, the League seems to know of their victory – dozens of heroes are waiting in the teleportation bay – and they’re all cheering for the defeat of the Anomaly and successful rescue of Artemis. Wally is thinking about joining in when the medics swarm them. In heat of the battle, had had forgotten how much damage they had actually suffered. Of course, now that the adrenalin is wearing off, he is _quite_ aware of the burns on his feet if the medic would _please quite poking that, thank you_. That’s approximately when an I.V. gets shoved into his arm and the world starts spinning out.

 

_Well that’s just anti-climactic,_ Wally thinks, _I don’t even get to join in my own celebration._

Only the tittering in the back of his mind makes him realize that M’gann and J’onn aren’t quite unconscious yet either.

 

XxXxX

 

Her dreams are pleasant that night. At least, Artemis thinks they are. It’s hard to tell much in her (their?) drug-addled-and-still-half-melded mental state. Still, as she comes back to awareness (and with only a few aches; a truly pleasant surprise for which she owes this League’s medical personnel) she distinctly remembers catching wisps of love and peace and family. Even now, she feels most _whelmingly_ happy.

 

It’s over.  For good.

 

It’s over, and they all made it out alive, and she has her Wally back… it’s more than she could have ever dreamed for when they set out on this cursed mission. It’s more, even, than she dared hope for as recently as the day before. This mood-whiplash – for once towards positive emotions – is almost too much for her.

 

“Good morning, Beautiful.” It’s unlike her, but Artemis can’t help but giggle at her Love’s voice. She’s just realized that she might wake up to Wally’s words every day from now on.

 

She cracks an eye open to see her boyfriend staring at her from the next bed. Her poor speedster is wrapped in more than a few bandages, but he’s sitting up and seems plenty alert, all things considered. He certainly looks better off than some of the other heroes in the ward. Most of them seem to be covered in poultices and hooked up to various I.V.’s like Wally, but a few have needed more specialized attention, Artemis herself included.

 

The archer doesn’t know exactly what might be wrong with her, but the bands clamped around her wrists and ankles are too reminiscent of Zatanna’s charms to be anything but magical. It’s likely they’re to counter the effects of whatever Klarion’s magic did to her.

 

Shayera’s sprawled across three whole beds. Well, she’s technically only _on_ one of them. The other two seem to be supporting her wing and the makeshift cast that’s been put on it. J’onn and M’gann seem to be the worst off. The Martians are barely visible beneath their cocoons of bandages and medical apparatuses. The machines by their beds are beeping steadily, though, and their chests are rising and falling at a reasonable rate. Give it a little time, and they’ll be just fine. The bed in the corner is empty, though it’s clear someonehad been using it recently. Artemis tries not to roll her eyes. Of course the Bat would skip out of medical.

 

As she finishes her examination, Wally clears his throat. She turns back to the ginger hero.

 

“I want you to know I’m still mad at you for that stunt you pulled in the desert.” She doesn’t know what to say to that. She knows it was cruel of her, but she can’t be sorry. Not really. Not just because everything worked out, but also because she doesn’t think she would choose differently if she could. Luckily, he continues before she’s forced to respond.

 

“I mean, I guess I’m not really _mad._ I can’t be mad at you after… anyways. I just… I need to be mature before everyone can wake up and see it.” She smiles at his attempts at humor. That’s her Baywatch, always trying to make light of everything. “Can we _please_ promise to stop doing this to each other?”

 

The happiness races out of her as she contemplates how to respond. How can she agree to potentially live without this boy? Could she survive without his freckles and his appetite and his bad jokes? Without his kindness and support and love? Hasn’t she lived without him for long enough? Hasn’t she watched him _die_ enough times?

 

Artemis looks over at her boyfriend. He’s pleading – with his eyes, with his hands, and with his mouth – and her breath catches. How can she ask him to do what she cannot?

 

“Okay.” She agrees quietly, and he half-smiles at her. She wants so much to see his real smile though. “Next time we do stupid, dangerous stuff, we agree that we’ll do said stupid, dangerous stuff _together._ ”

 

He laughs – softly – at her effort and she joins in. It feels good to be the light-hearted one, for once. She slides as far over as she can on the bad, and reaches out her hand. He does the same. Their arms are just barely long enough for their fingers to entwine.

 

“Yes, Ma’am. I can agree to that.”

 

XxXxX

 

“C’mon, c’mon, _c’mon._ ” Dick is bouncing with excitement. “Fastest man alive my _foot._ ”

 

“Keep your tights on, Circus Boy, he’s almost cleared.” Artemis chastises her overly excitable teammate. “It’s not like getting back any sooner’s going to help _you_ anyways. Your siblings should all still be in school right now.”

 

Dick waves her off.  “Psh. Details, details. I’m named on their ‘check-out’ lists. Man, Timmy’s gonna be so mad if I yank him from AP US history...”

 

“I’m sure your brothers will be happy to see you, regardless.” Kaldur assures him.

 

“And we’re happy to see them!” M’gann practically crows with excitement. Her feet hadn’t touched the ground since the Medics finally started clearing them (reluctantly; apparently their magical injuries healed abnormal rates, and the doctors were curious to test if that was due to the chaotic nature of the magic or a result of Klarion’s banishment) this afternoon.

 

“Mmm.” Conner agrees. One could say that, for him, that’s pretty excited.

 

Artemis, despite having just chastised Dick for being impatient, checks her watch. She didn’t think they were going to be able to make it to the twin’s party, but if they’re able to leave soon, she and Wally might not even be that late…

 

Her musing is interrupted by their final team member and the Leaguers who have opted to accompany him down to the teleport bay.

 

Good byes are a bit of a mess. Artemis notices J’onn pass a box to M’gann. It’s something really good one if the Martian’s delighted squeal and subsequent hug are anything to judge by. Conner tries to say good-bye to this world’s Superman, but a blonde Kryptonian girl keeps getting in the way by refusing to let go of him. Diana and Kaldur engage in what seems to be some sort of warrior’s handshake. John and Dick have a brief conversation to the side, both look serious enough to make Artemis want to roll her eyes. Even Artemis discovers she will be missed; Shayera doesn’t move to hug her, but the Thanagarian does brush Artemis’ arm with her wing and says with a smile, “I trust you can my little brother in line.”

 

Of course, _everyone_ has to hug Wally.

 

Eventually, though, they’ve all said their goodbyes, and with last, morose looks, step back and allow the Team to position themselves on the teleportation platforms. All too quickly, they’re in a cave in Happy Harbor, organizing themselves on the TD teleportation platform.

 

It’s time to go home

 

XxXxX

 

“ _Recognize: B-Zero-Two: Aqualad, B-Zero-Five: Miss Martian, B-Zero-Four: Superboy, B-Zero-One: Nightwing.”_

Barbara, Zatanna and Garfield are the only ones that are near enough to hear the computer call out these particular designations, and all immediately drop whatever they were doing to head to the Watchtower’s TD platform.

 

Gar barely waits for his sister to finish materializing when he rushes to hug her. “You’re back! You’re really back!”

 

“We are, Gar, and we’re going to be here for a while.” M’gann soothes the changeling, wiping tears from his eyes.

 

The two heroines have stayed back, take a minute to observe the four returning heroes. They exchange a worried glance and Zatanna works up the courage to ask, “Where’s Artemis?”

 

Her fears are immediately alleviated. “Ah, right.” Dick snap’s his fingers with a grin. “I knew we were forgetting something.” He leans over to Kaldur – the closest person to him – and snatches the TD remote from the Atlantean’s hand. “Be right back!”

 

“Okay…” Barbara says as her childhood friend-and-maybe-more disappears again. “Anyone want to tell us what’s going on?”

 

“You guys are smiling,” Gar accuses now that he’s stopped to look.

 

The dimension-hoppers share a mischievous look.

 

Kaldur answers their query, “Yes. We have some good news. We’re going to ask that you all keep it to yourselves for a little while, though. He’d like to tell everyone for himself.”

 

The computer chimes again before Kaldur can say anymore.

 

“ _Recognize: B-Zero-One: Nightwing, B-Zero-Seven: Tigress._ ” The two begin to come into focus, much to the reassurance of the others. Then, the computer continues, “ _B-Zero-Three, Kid Flash.”_

“No. Way.” Zatanna stares Dick down, daring him to contradict her.

 

He does. “Yes way.”

 

That’s approximately when the third person pulls off his bright red cowl to reveal equally bright red hair. “Hey guys!” a very-much-alive Wally West says, slinging an arm over a green-clad Artemis. “Miss me?”

 

XxXxX

 

Iris West-Allen knows she should be happier.

 

It’s her children’s birthday after all, a day for celebration. A day for their whole family to be together.

 

But that’s sort of the problem.

 

The Garrick’s had arrived first. Jay and Joan had come in bearing gifts that sent their grandchildren zipping around the room, showing off how they had, indeed, inherited the Flash legacy.  Bart arrived with them, although judging by the mess in his wind-blown hair, he hadn’t come from the same place. Still, he happily sat down on the living room floor and played jungle gym for his younger cousins/father and aunt. After Iris waved off Joan’s attempts to help her get everything ready, the couple had sat softly on the couch to watch the children, simply enjoying their family’s conversation.

 

Hal and John had both made arrangements to be here for their god-children (Apparently, they had just about died of shock when Guy volunteered to take the next shift on Oa for them. They’re _still_ looking for an ulterior motive behind the man’s ‘kind gesture.’) and have been on the back porch arguing with Barry about the grill for a half hour now. She has complete faith in them. Really. Of course, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have explicit orders for the pizza man to be here at five with a dozen extra-larges.

 

The twins insisted their best friend Lian be there, so that means Roy and Jade are too. Roy’s willing to play princesses and ninjas with the girls, and Jade has long since stopped looking like she’s going to kill someone, so even their presence is welcome. Jade falls into conversation with Mary, who is one of the last arrivals, and they speak as one ‘housewife’ to another. (Not one mother to another; not anymore.)

 

She doesn’t flinch when she hears her brother’s voice, calling Don his ‘favorite nephew’ as he steps out back with the rest of the boys. Barry does, though, because there was a time when he could say that about someone too.

 

Even Artemis called from whatever dimension she was in to say that she should be there at least in time for cake. The young woman even volunteered to pick up extra snacks on her way over _._

Yes. Iris is a lucky woman to have so many good friends and family members around her today. Maybe, if she keeps thinking that, she’ll stop feeling the hole in her family.

 

It’s been years now. She knows she needs to move on. But still, she feels it, every time her husband and grandson step out the door with their costume on. Every time she watches her children use their powers and insist they’ll be heroes one day too. Death and danger will always walk – no, _run –_ in the shadow of her family. They do for every hero, but they are one of the only ‘super-families’ to have personally experienced it. (They’re the _only_ one to have experienced it twice).

 

She knows it’s normal to be sad _sometimes._ She still sees the way Rudy’s face shutters when he hears other parents brag about their children. She knows that Mary still refuses to get out of bed on what should have been her son’s birthday. She watched Barry cry when they finally had to move Wally’s things out of their spare room so Dawn and Don didn’t have to share anymore.

 

But those are _normal_ triggers. Anyone who had experienced what they have would feel sad at moments like that. No, the others grieve, but they still live their lives. She feels like she’s the only one who still forgets, who still want to call up her favorite nephew, her pseudo-son, and ask him out to lunch, or to fix her computer, or to eat the left over cookies she just happened to make that morning.

 

The sound of a motorcycles pulling up outside jars Iris from her thoughts. She reminds herself to be happy, because she has all of her family here, and this is a celebration, and she’s being ridiculous for missing a long-dead boy. Her assumption that the newcomer is Artemis is confirmed when the front door opens and she hears three cries of “Aunt Artemis!”

 

“Whoa! Who are these people? I know they’re not the Terrible Trio, because they’re way too big to be my nieces and nephew.”

 

“Aunt Artemis, you’re silly!” Lian calls out as the woman scoops all three into a hug. They protest when she lets go, but she quiets them with a, “You don’t want me to leave your gifts in the doorway do you? Show me where to put them.”

 

Iris watches her make rounds around the room, giving out hugs to the family she’s been away from so long (because that girl is a Flash, and she will fight Ollie if he tries to say otherwise). Finally it’s her turn to embrace the woman. “You look happy.”

 

“Well… I met someone.” Artemis admits with a grin. Iris can feel her eyebrows shoot up and notices how the rest of the room is suddenly paying attention to their exchange.

 

“Well you have to tell us all about him, sweetheart.” Mary calls form where she’s sitting next to Rudy. Neither her voice nor her face shake, so Iris can only assume that Mary’s genuinely happy for the girl, that she’s not fighting the _You can’t replace Wally!_ and the _What is wrong with you? Even Artemis has moved on, why can’t you?_ that bubbles up inside her.

 

“Well, actually, I was thinking everyone would like to meet him?” She can hear Hal grumbling behind her, because having someone outside ‘the know’ means no using their powers and no hero talk. She pointedly ignores him and puts on a bright smile (because she owes Artemis this – this chance to be happy) and assures the blonde that of course they’d love to meet the man that caught her eye. “Great! He’s still trying to prove to me that he can carry in all the food in one trip. He, uh, might need someone to open the door for him.”

 

“Oh, of course!” Iris leaves Artemis in the capable hands of her children and heads for their front door. There’s the sound of low swearing and the rustling of bags when she reaches it. She takes a moment to school her face into a welcoming smile, and then throws open the door. When she sees her guest, she knows her grief is worse than she thought, because she’s hallucinating, and it’s not going away.

 

Her nephew is here. Standing in her doorway. His arms are piled up with food, and his grin is bright and cheesy and it’s all so _familiar_ … It can’t be, but it _has_ to be.

 

“Wally?” She asks after several heartbeats.

 

“Hey, Aunt Iris. Sorry I’m so late.”

 

XxXxX

 

Barry rushes to his wife’s side the instant he hears her scream. Still, he’s too late to stop the… _thing_ with his dead nephew’s face from taking her in its arms. Instead, he’s forced to push his speed to its limits in the hope that he can pry the thing off her before she can be harmed. His grandson – ever-faithful partner that he is – has already come to his side, putting another body between his home and this intruder.

 

Not-Wally evidently has his nephew’s speed, because the thing is fast enough to realize what’s happening as Barry throws him from the porch. The thing twists to land in a crouch, and time seems to speed up as its feet touch the ground.

 

“Barry!” His wife sounds outraged, now that she’s had half a second to react. Barry doesn’t dwell on it as he watches his not-nephew orient himself.

 

“What the _hell_ , Uncle B?” Bart stiffens at his side as he realizes who this is. No. Who this isn’t. Who this _can’t be._

“What are you, and what do you want?” Barry feels himself growl.

 

“Ouch. That’s really hurtful. Don’t you know your own nephew when you see him?”

 

Barry wants to go for its throat, but he restrains himself to hold it by its shirt instead. It doesn’t fight back. There’s a commotion behind him; John and Hal have arrived to back him up and Bart’s struggling to keep the others in the living room where they can’t see this imposter. Artemis is insistent though, and Bart is nowhere near strong enough to stop her if she really wants to do something.

 

“How _dare_ you. I oughta-”

 

“Barry, don’t!” Artemis pushes her way past the Green Lanterns guarding the door and makes her way over to the stand-off in the yard. “He’s telling the truth! It’s Wally. _Our_ Wally.”

 

Barry takes a step back, shaking his head in disbelief. It can’t be him. That would be too good to be true. Maybe it lied to Artemis. Or maybe this girl isn’t even his niece, maybe she’s an imposter too. There are a thousand ways to justify what’s happening without it being real. Because if this _was_ their Wally…

 

Another small figure steps out of the house. This time he and the Lanterns allow her to pass without protest.

 

“Wally?” Mary approaches her “son” tentatively. He moves likewise, cautious of scaring her. She looks over him with a critical eye, finally cupping his face so he’s looking right at her.

 

“Hey, Momma.” This seems to be all the confirmation Mary needs, because she pulls him into a tight hug and buries her face in his chest. He returns the gesture, holding her tight and saying in a soothing voice, “Please don’t cry, Mom. Everything’s okay. Really.”

 

It the first time in a long time that Mary’s been able to believe those words.


	34. Validation

After many protests and questions of Wally’s authenticity, (“Oh my god Uncle Hal! Don’t make me tell them about the time in middle school when you were supposed to take me to the science museum and instead we-” “Okay, that’s enough! He’s ours.”) the group was able to move back inside. Once they return to the privacy of the West-Allen household, Wally is able to truly embrace his family. He slowly makes his way around the room to offer hugs and words of consolation, waving off requests for explanations until he’s finished.

 

Finally, he plops down on the carpet where the Birthday Girl and Boy are waiting – only a _little_ sullenly – for attention to return to them.

 

“High Don, Dawn,” Wally waves to them. “I’m your cousin Wally, but you can call me ‘Uncle Awesome’ if you want.”

 

The twins giggle at his joke and stick out their hands. Wally doesn’t miss a beat. He crosses his own arms, and takes both their hands to shake at the same time. “I’m really happy to finally meet you, cousins, and really sorry for interrupting your party. May I sit with you guys and tell you a story to try and make up for it?”

 

Again, the kids ascent, and Wally scoots over to sit across from them, so that he’s facing most of the rest of the room.

 

“This is the story of a speedster – much like yourselves – and his adventures in an alternate dimension that’s very different but also very like this one.”

 

The adults were more than capable of reading between the lines to learn what he’d been through these past few weeks and years, but Wally did his best to make the story entertaining for the little ones too. So he’s never _technically_ fought off a horde of ninjas or saved a princess from a dragon, but the story needed more dragons and ninjas, okay?

 

Plus, a running stream of jokes and fabrications helps keep the story light. By the end, there are more smiles in the room than frowns. As he finishes (…and they all lived happily ever after!) Wally blocks attempts at further questioning by reminding them all of his appetite and wondering if there was going to be birthday cake soon. The twins – and Lian, who’s suddenly quite willing to give her opinion now that dessert is involved – cheer and everyone else looks on fondly. So, they have cake and ice cream, and the party begins to actually feel like a party again.

 

Wally notices, though, that even as everyone else becomes more at ease, Bart continues to act strangely. Well, more strangely than everyone else is still acting. The young speedster keeps glancing at his cousin, only to drop his eyes and turn away the moment he notice that Wally’s look back. Combined with the teen’s refusal of desert and generally subdued demeanor, and Wally can’t help but be concerned. He can’t shake the feeling that Bart’s strangeness is somehow related to him.

 

He tells himself that it probably isn’t his business, but he remembers that he was beginning to grow closer to the teen and wants to offer his support. It’s something of a godsend when Barry gets a call about a disturbance in the southern part of the state right as the twins are about to open their birthdays presents.

 

“Stay here with your kids, Barry, we’ll take care of it,” John offers.

 

“No, it’ll take you too long to get there, the risk if the fire spreads…”

 

“I can take care of it!” Wally pipes up, much to everyone’s horror. Wally just rolls his eyes; between the League and the Team, he’s starting to get used to this overprotection. “C’mon, guys. It’ll be fine. Look.” He pulls out his Flash ring, and quickly switches into his costume. “I’ll take Bart with me, and everyone will just assume that it’s Flash and Kid Flash, like always.”

 

Eventually, with Artemis’ support, everyone consents to Wally’s suggestion. Even Bart, who still won’t look at him.

 

XxXxX

 

They’re passing through some cornfields on the way back, when Wally decides they’re isolated enough to stop. He tugs on Bart’s arm, signaling for the younger speedster to slow down and stop with him. Bart does. What he doesn’t do is look at Wally. Instead, Bart stares at the ground, scuffing his feet as if he’s hoping the ground will suddenly rise up and swallow him.

 

Wally decides to be direct. “Bart, talk to me. You have to tell me what’s wrong.” Wally hopes he will. There’re too many things that might be bothering the younger speedster for Wally to make a confident guess. Is he worried about his mantle now that Wally’s back? Annoyed at how Wally’s attendance sort of ruined the party? Mad that he wasn’t allowed to help fight Klarion? It’s probably the last one, Wally thinks, remembering his own demands to be treated as an adult when he was Bart’s age.

 

When Bart does finally looks up, though, it’s with a sniffle; his cheeks are damp, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be drying out any time soon.

 

“I’m s-so s-orry!” Bart finally sobs, throwing his arms around his cousin (and when did he get so _big?_ Wally curses Lex and Klarion. He’s missed so much here.)

 

“Wait. What?” Wally finally gets his mind off of his cousin’s size, and realizes what Bart just said. Frankly, he’s flabbergasted.

 

“I th-thought you were dead! We all did! And everyone w-was so miserable and I knew it was m-my f-fault!” Bart chokes on a sob and hold his cousin tighter.

 

Wally reciprocates the embrace and begins rubbing his cousin’s back to comfort him. He doesn’t immediately deny the boy’s words though. Bart’s “confession” is from way out in left field. Wally’s too stunned to even begin to find the words for how wrong Bart is. He works to soothe the boy’s crying instead.

 

“Shhhhhh. It’s okay Bart, everything’s going to be okay. You don’t need to cry. But, like, you totally can if you want to. I’m pretty sure Dinah would say that that kind of thing is good for you. Oh, no. I’m not very good at this, am I?”

 

Bart makes a choking sound that could be either a sob or a laugh, Wally can’t tell. His breathing does begin to even out after that, though, and soon the story comes spilling out: Wally’s original future, his and Artemis’ families, everything he and the Team missed out on while going up against the Anomaly.

 

“Wait, you lost me again. I still don’t see why you thin

 

“Really? Because Damian says-”

 

“Damian? That kid Dick was telling me about? B’s son? _Talia al Ghul’s kid?_ ” Barts nods, and Wally splutters for a moment. “Okay, I’m going to try not to judge, because I don’t know the kid and Dick adores him but I have to say: _why would you ever believe the spawn of Talia “Lying Manipulative Assassin” al Ghul and Bruce “Magnificent Maniuplator” Wayne?_ ”

 

Bart scuffs his boot on the ground again, but at least he doesn’t look down. “Yes?”

 

“Yeah, that may have been a bad source of opinions. Just a thought.”

 

“I guess maybe I should have asked for a second opinion?”

 

“Yeah, probably. Although to be fair to you, Bat machinations are really, really hard to deal with, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.” Bart cracks a little bit of a smile at Wally’s assurances.

 

“But, seriously – well, seriously for me; it’s all relative – none of this was your fault, and none of us think it was, and it all turned out well in the end! Look at me Bart.”  The younger speedster obliges. Wally pulls back his cowl, and takes Bart’s goggles off so he can look straight in the boy’s eyes. “It may take a little while for us to pull it together emotionally, but the pain is only temporary. The things we’ve gained from our adventures, the things we gave back… those, I think, are permanent. So it’s all for the best, really.”

 

“Do you really _really_ think that?”

 

“I do.” Wally throws his arm over Bart’s shoulders. After a moment Bart leans into the touch, and begins to nod slowly.

 

“I… I guess if you’re not mad. And everyone else _seems_ happy. And if you really think this was good for you… maybe It’s not my fault? Or at least, if it was, that it’s not a bad thing, in the long run?”

 

Bart seems to be perking up, even if he does still seem to be a little lost in thought. Wally feels for the teen. He makes a mental note to mention Damian’s possible machinations to Dick. The acrobat will be most displeased at the possibility. Yeah. Sic’ing a disappointed Dick on the kid is probably good retribution for his cousin’s extra distress. Seriously, Dick’s puppy dog eyes... they should probably be illegal.

 

Suddenly, a more positive thought occurs to him. His grin is only a little devious as he slips his cowl back on.

 

“You know, if everything hadn’t happened this way, who knows how many universes Klarion could’ve got to before he was stopped? Which, by the way, means I win. You saved this _one_ universe with time travel, I saved _dozens_ with ‘space’ travel… and now I’m going to beat you back to the party and finish off the cake!” Wally calls out the last bit at speedster-rate as he takes off for the house.

 

Bart stands stunned for a moment before he can process what just happened.

 

“Wha- you… Cheater! Don’t you dare eat all the cake!”

 

XxXxX

 

Ollie finds out that Artemis is back from Roy.

 

He tries not to let that hurt too much. He’s sure she has her reasons for going to see the Flashes before him. Artemis is hurting – especially right now, when they probably just lost another Wally – so of course she’d seek comfort in his family first. Maybe someone told her about Bart, and she left the Tower immediately to comfort her youngest brother.

Maybe she just wanted to go celebrate with the other side of her family, and was running late, and forgot to call…

 

He won’t be jealous if that’s the case. Really.

 

He doesn’t voice his concerns to Roy; his ‘eldest’ is too busy (and, quite frankly, sounds too happy) to be worried about his old man’s insecurities. Instead, Ollie promises to babysit his granddaughter next weekend, wishes Roy well, and hangs up the phone. He gives himself one minute to get over his melancholy.

 

Sixty-four seconds after he sets down the phone, the door to his penthouse closes behind him as he heads for the nearest zeta tube. Within minutes, he’s in Gotham.

 

Whenever Artemis is home for a little while – and it’s always only a _little_ while, because she won’t risk losing another Wally due to negligence, even for family vistis – he always meets her at her mom’s house. It helps her squeeze moments in with as many people as possible, and has become a tradition for them.

 

His breath is visible in the chilly November air as he hurries to Paula’s apartment. He always seems to forget how much colder it is in Gotham than in Star City. Luckily, Paula seems to have been expecting him. The door opens only moments after he knocks, and a steaming cup of hot chocolate is pushed into his hands not long after.

 

“Jade said I should expect you guys.” So Artemis hadn’t called her Mother either. Ollie’s hurt is immediately replaced with guilt and concern; guilt that he had doubted Artemis’s desire to contact him and concern that she was doing even worse than she hoped. It is almost _his_ birthday after all. Paula doesn’t seem to think anything is amiss, and continues, “She seemed… very happy. I’m glad. Your boy is good for my daughter.”

 

Ollie forces a smile. Paula wheels herself to be across from his seat on the couch, and Ollie passes her a mug of her own once her hands are free again. “Your daughter is good for him. I’ll still never repay her for getting through to him when none of the rest of us could.”

 

Paula’s smile slips, and her eyes become wistful. “Yes. The women in our family are awfully stubborn when it comes to the men we love.”

 

He reaches out to grasp her hand, “Don’t say that like nothing good has ever come from it. I know Roy, at least, is glad for it.” Paula shrugs, and they sit in silence. They might have remained like that all night, had they not heard a familiar laugh in the hallway.

 

“Oh my God! Stop that! We do not need a repeat of your introduction at the party!”

 

A muffled voice replies.

 

“No, wait here, let me-” Artemis cuts herself off as Ollie throws open the door. For a moment, he doesn’t even realize what so odd about this picture; Wally and Artemis had shown up at his door together often enough for it to be a familiar sight. But then his brain switches gears from _she’s smiling,_ to _why is this Wally-ghost here?_ His body reacts before his mind, though, and does the only reasonable thing it can in a situation like this.

 

He punches the guy holding his little girl’s hand.

 

“Are you _kidding me?_ Why is that everyone’s initial reaction? _”_ The boy shouts from where he dropped to the floor, but he doesn’t move to get up. Artemis steps between him and Ollie before he can follow through.

 

“Artemis? Oliver?” Paula’s made it to the doorway, adding to the chaos. “What is going on here?”

 

“Ollie, stop. Let me explain.” Artemis’ eyes are open and pleading. He trusts her, so he backs down.

 

From behind him, Ollie hears Paula huff. “Well, this should be interesting.”

 

XxXxX

 

Artemis gets Wally ice as they move into the living room. “I told you to let me come in and explain things first,” She admonishes as she presses the cold compress to his eye.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” She wants to kiss his grumpiness away, but her Mom and Ollie are looking at them with confused, distrusting eyes, so she jumps into an explanation instead. As with at the Party, it takes a lot of explaining, cajoling and testifying to convince Paula and Ollie that _yes, this is the real Wally,_ and _yes, I’m quite sure neither of us were replaces with pod-people,_ and _no, we’re fine, really._

When it’s all said and done, Wally and Artemis retire to her old room, and Paula and Ollie spend several more hours calling Dick and M’gann and the Wests and many League and Team Members to corroborate the young heroes’ story.

 

“It’s really him.” Paula finally whispers in a daze as she hangs up a phone call to her other daughter.

 

“They really did it.” Ollie adds in a sort of agreement. The two in-laws spend a few more moments like that; blankly staring into space as they try to process the monumental changes tonight has brought them. For once, they’re good changes, and the luck of such things just seems to be too good to be true.

 

Suddenly, Ollie’s convinced it is. He surges to his feet, and, with all the stealth he can muster in his impatience (and trusting that the two wouldn’t get up to anything _too_ embarrassing with himself and Paula right in the next room), cracks Artemis’ door open.

 

Ollie smiles as he peaks into Artemis’ room. She must have collapsed into bed a little while ago, exhausted from the day’s revelations. Wally has curled up around her, pinned between her body and the wall. He silently closes the door again, only to turn and realize Paula had followed him, and is giving him a strange look.

 

He clears his throat, embarrassed. “I uh, I know it’s irrational, but I can’t help but feel like this is still a dream, or that something’s going to happen to them if I let them out of my sight.”

 

“I understand the sentiment.” She says, wheeling down the hall to the living room with him.

 

“Listen, Paula. Would you mind terribly if I stayed over tonight? I’ve got a bow just down the street…. I really feel like I need to… keep watch, I guess. Protect them.”

 

Paula smiles at him. “You can keep me company, then.” She flicks her wrist and a crossbow reveals itself to him with a click. “Because I’m way ahead of you.”


	35. Reconciliation

**Earth-12, -10 Minutes After Wally Returns Home (AWRH)**

 

John makes a special effort to snag one Richard Grayson while Wally is occupied saying goodbye to the others.

 

“You take care of him, now.” He clamps a hand on Nightwing’s shoulder and stares down at the younger hero, daring him to squirm or otherwise appear unprepared for the serious duty John’s entrusting him with.

 

It’s not just anyone who has the strength of will to put up with and take care of everyone’s favorite speedster, after all, and it’s not a duty John hands off lightly. If there’s a voice in the back of John’s head reminding him that this boy has been doing exactly that for longer than John’s even _known_ Wally, well, that’s not the point. It doesn’t matter which of them is Wally’s best friend. It just matters that he’s looked after.

 

Dick doesn’t squirm, though. Instead, he nods solemnly and raises his hand to pledge, “I swear, from one of Wally’s best friends to another, to do the best I can for him.”

 

_From one of Wally’s best friends to another._

John doesn’t twitch at Dick’s recognition of Wally’s feelings, nor the implicit acknowledgement of John’s insecurities. He just nods and lets the boy go. “Have a safe trip home.”

 

“Thanks,” Dick says earnestly. “I think we will.”

 

XxXxX

 

**Earth-12, -3 Minutes AWRH**

 

“M’gann.” The girl in question turns immediately towards J’onn at his call. He gestures for her to come over to him, and she moves away from the loud, excited mess that is her teammate’s attempts at goodbye. “I’m glad I caught you.”

 

“I wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye to you! I’m not _that_ anxious to get home.”  J’onn smiles at her earnestness. He had never been afraid she would simply abandon him.

 

“I know. I wanted to give you this before you left,” he says, pushing a heavy box into her hands. M’gann hesitates and he nods, encouraging her to open in. She gasps when she does, and it’s only her telekinesis that keeps the contents from hitting the ground when she surges up, and throws her arms around his neck. Luckily, J’onn’s remembered a lot about these kinds of things from spending the last week in her presence; he immediately returns the tight hug.

 

“ _Thank you, thank you,_ thank you _!”_ She squeals excitedly inside his mind and out.

 

“You’re most welcome, M’gann,” He replies verbally so he can take in all of the joy she is sending through the remains of their link. He tries to take in as much about this moment as he can; he knows this will be one to hold on to in the coming months if loneliness threatens to overwhelm him again.

 

She eventually gets her wordless happiness back under control enough to send him an image of how happy Gar will be to see his gift. “ _It will so make his day. I can’t wait for you to meet him!”_

That surprises him. He had been under the impression that this was goodbye for good. _“Meet him?”_

_“Yes, of course!”_ She continues, oblivious to his preconceptions. “ _We’ll certainly invite you to come to our C’eridyall Celebration, if we don’t see you sooner. I assume you already have plans here for Thanksgiving?”_

_“Th-thank you. I would very much enjoy that.”_ It had been millennia since he had anyone to celebrate the Martian Goddess of Life’s patron holiday. Of course, he hadn’t had a reason to celebrate it before a few years ago anyways.

 

“ _Great! I’ll send you the details when once we’ve pulled everything together.”_ The others are motioning for her now; it’s finally time to go. She gives him peck on the cheek and scoops up his gift before hurrying back to the teleporter platforms. As they prepare to leave the station, she waves at him one last time. “ _See you next month!”_

She’s gone before he can respond, but he can’t help but think to himself, _Yes. I’ll see you next month._

XxXxX

**Earth-12, 22 Minutes AWRH**

 

The Caped Crusader finds himself, once again, in the dark amongst the monitor womb’s computer bank. The medics had been unhappy to realize he had the codes to override their orders, but there were things that needed to be done.

 

Still, now that the danger was passed, and the League was getting back on their feet, he couldn’t get Dick’s words out of his head.

 

_“You know, you didn’t have a file on Damian in there.”_

 

Could it be true? Could he and Talia have a son? To his shame, it’s certainly not impossible. Perhaps a better question is: does it matter? Just thinking about it hurts, but he daren’t make a thoughtless, emotional judgment. It cuts Bruce to the quick to pin it down, to examine it from every angle, to analyze it as he would an external mystery. It’s a necessary pain.

 

Does it matter?

 

Yes. It does matter. If nothing else, he needs to consider the biological implications for Batman’s defense systems. He needs to place contingencies in case Talia tries to pull something public, something that would inconvenience Bruce Wayne. Certainly there are plenty of logistical details to consider, if he really wants to be thorough.

 

Other than that, no, it doesn’t matter. He won’t let it. The past few days are evidence of how vulnerable he is to such a relationship.

 

_Not my son!_

Batman is Gotham’s protector. Batman is a leader of the Justice League. Batman’s first and only priority is justice. He can’t risk that, and his potential son’s happiness, out of a selfish desire to play house.

 

_I’m happy._

 

Dick’s determined insistence weighs on the back of his mind, not quite letting Bruce’s oh-so-logical argument rest. With some reluctance, he puts aside his work. It only takes him a few keystrokes to pull up a search on the last known location of Talia al Ghul. It’s not hard to find her; she’s been remarkably stationary for the last three years. Bruce’s throat is tight as he digs deeper, into the Shadow’s recent movements and the rumors surrounding their Lady al Ghul. With every new discovery, his fear (his hope?) becomes an increasingly likely truth.

A voice cuts through his hyper-focused attention before he can allow himself to consider what this means.

 

“Bruce! There you are!” He turns to see Diana stalk into the monitor womb. Her hands are flexed into tight fists, and her eyes are more than a little narrowed. He doesn’t think she’s going to punch him, but he decides he should probably at east give her attention if he wants to keep it that way. “How _could_ you? You missed them leaving! You missed saying goodbye to Wally and now you _might never see him again._ ” She hisses the last part with far more venom than she’s usually capable of.

 

It’s a struggle not to let her reminder hurt. He tells himself that he _chose_ this, and that he knew what he was doing. That it was best this way.

 

It doesn’t stop the pain.

 

“I doubt we’ve seen the last of Wally. His signed, mint-condition _Star Trek: The Original Comic Book_ is still in the closet of his apartment. He’ll find a way back to get that if nothing else.”

 

“If I didn’t know you any better. I’d think you were making a joke. That’s really the excuse you’re going to go with, though, isn’t it?” He shrugs as much as the armor of his suit will allow, and starts to turn back to the computer. The Amazon’s super-strong grip on his chair stops him. “I’m _not_ laughing, Bruce.”

 

“I _wasn’t_ joking, Princess.”

 

“Princess? You won’t even use my name? What? Was I getting too close? Are you going to push me away like to did Dick?” Bruce flinches. “What are you so afraid of? What’s wrong with letting us in, or at least showing us you _care?_ If you can’t face your counterpart’s son again, then fine. But you couldn’t even give Wally the courtesy of a goodbye? What possible reason could you have for _that?_ ”

 

“I might not have let them go!” He shouts back at her. He immediately regrets it, and tries to backpedal. “No! I mean. That’s not true. I don’t think I’m _that_ selfish. I just…” He’s at a loss for words again. How can he admit that he couldn’t bear to say goodbye to another person – to more people – that he loves.

 

Damn those two for getting to him.

 

He starts to turn back to the computer – maybe activity will focus him enough to continue, or at least cover his pauses – when he finds a pair of arms thrown around him. Diana’s not using her Amazonian strength. Batman could throw her off if he wanted to.

 

Bruce lets her keep hugging him.

 

“You’re not selfish Bruce. It’s okay to love them, and to be sad that they’re leaving.” All traces of antagonism are gone from the Amazon’s voice. She’s all sweetness and sympathy. Bruce silently marvels at her ability to switch so freely between such intense emotions.  To let things go, or to go with them, rather than holding back and analyzing every thought and possible action. To so freely offer comfort to someone dear… Again, Dick’s words come back to him.

 

_It’s not selfishness to let people in, Bruce._

 

“I… I know that.”

 

She doesn’t believe him. He doesn’t believe himself. “Do you really?”

 

“It’s… becoming increasingly clear.” She nods. They both know that’s closer to the truth. Diana has always been good at dealing with his worst moods and seems to sense that he doesn’t need to be pushed further right now. She lets him brood quietly for a moment, offering only physical support. Even when he turns back to his search, she doesn’t push it, instead asking him what he’s working on.

 

Bruce hesitates. “I… Dick mentioned something that has led me to believe that I may have a son.”

 

“That’s wonderful, Bruce!”

 

“…With Talia al Ghul.”

 

Diana’s jaw drops. “Oh. _Oh._ That's not good.” Bruce opens his mouth, ready to defend his past indiscretions, when she continues. “You’re not going to leave the child to be raised by unscrupulous _assassins,_ are you?” She looks genuinely worried until he shakes his head.

 

“I was going to plan an extraction now.”

 

She nods in approval. “This could put you up against the entire League of Shadows… I don’t doubt your ability, but I am here, if you need help.”

 

There was a time when he would have taken offense to that. He’s willing to be honest with himself about this, though. He’s been in her head so he knows she doesn’t doubt his skills. Plus, she’s right. He will need help to do this. Unfortunately, bringing Wonder Woman-the-honorable-but-obvious-warrior into a den of ninjas is probably not the best of ideas. Then again, that’s not the only thing he’ll need help with.

 

“This will probably take me a few days to put together, and I’ve been away from Gotham for too long already. Is there…” He hesitates. He’s never asked this of them before. In fact, he’s expressly forbidden it. “Would you be willing to run a few patrols through Gotham for me?”

 

He eyes widen, but she doesn’t hesitate to answer. She crosses her arm across her chest and bows her head, as if swearing an oath. “I would be honored to guard your city in your absence, Batman.” Her formality assures Bruce that she will take this seriously. It eases a bit of the weight on his mind, making his next move obvious.

 

“Are you linked with J’onn? Can you ask him where Shayera is?” He asks, and she nods.

Bruce will admit that the founders new proclivity to remain linked when on the Watchtower has its uses, even if he’s not willing to participate himself yet. “I’m going to need a stealth specialist.”

 

XxXxX

**Earth-16, 1 Hour AWRH**

 

“Don't tell me it’s illegal! Find a legal way to do it then! Luthor’s out, and that mean’s he’s got something up. No. You’re going to give me everything. Uh-huh. Yes. Well do that then. Have it to me by next week. No no, thank _you._ You’re a dear. Kiss, kiss to you too, darling. Bubye now.” Lois Lane-Kent, Ace Reporter (And Don’t You Forget It) finally hangs up the phone and spins her chair to stare down her brother-in-law. “Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.”

 

“It’s good to see you to, Lo. Harassing your contacts again?”

 

“Clark’s contacts. Mine know better than to try and stall me.” Lois tosses her hair, dismissing the very _idea_ that someone could keep information away from her. After a moment, she drops the tough reporter “act” and smiles. “Welcome home, Conner.”

 

Conner returns her hug when she moves to embrace him.

 

“Smallville should just be getting out of a meeting with Perry, if you want to wait at his cube.”

 

“I know asking you to stop calling Clark ‘Smallville’ is a losing battle, but could you at least say a little less like an insult? That’s my hometown you’re talking about there.”

 

Lois waves her hand dismissively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Conner rolls his eyes. He’s about to retort (not that he thinks he can win, just that he has to try) when Clark comes around the corner.

 

The older Kryptonian no doubt heard their whole conversation, but he still smiles like Conner’s presence is an unexpected surprise.

 

“Conner! You’re home!” For the second time in as many minutes, Conner finds himself pulled into a tight hug.

 

“Hey Clark. Just wanted to see you before I head over to Ma and Pa’s.”

 

Lois smirks. “Ah, yes. We were just discussing your darling hometown. Care to weigh in and help even up the odds for your poor brother?”

 

Clark has this ridiculous, goofy grin on his face as he looks between Conner and Lois. “I think I’ll avoid the fight and just enjoy having you both here for a bit.” He turns fully to Conner. “How long are you home for?”

 

“For good, I think,” Conner says with a smile.

 

“Really?” Clark’s voice is cautiously optimistic.

 

“We beat it. Well, him.”

 

Conner finds himself pulled into a hug-sandwich between the two reporters. They know how much that means to him, to all of them.

 

“Congratulations.” Lois whispers, letting go.

 

“That’s not even the best part.” Conner pauses, for effect. Lois should approve. “We got Wally back. Our Wally.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, you’ll never believe what he’s been up to. He’s a founding member of his League! Besties with your counterpart and everything.”

 

“Now there’s a weird thought.”

 

“And you – we! – have a cousin. Oh Lois, you would like her. She gives Clark so much grief.”

 

“Sounds exactly like my kind of girl.”

 

“She is! I just… I can’t wait to tell you all about them.”

 

“How about we pack up early, then, and, uh… _head_ over to Ma and Pa’s house. So you only have to tell us all once.”

 

“I’d like that.”

 

“Well, I suppose my exposé on Luthor can wait until tomorrow… I expect embarrassing stories about Clarks counterpart in recompense, though!”

 

“Lois!”

 

“As you wish, dear Sister-in-Law.”

 

“Conner!”

 

Lois and Conner laugh their way out of the building, with poor, beleaguered Clark following in their wake.

 

XxXxX

 

**Earth-16, 2.5 Hours AWRH**

“Kaldur’ahm!” King Orrin of Atlantis calls out as his former apprentice attempts to sneak surreptitiously into the side of the audience chamber. With a wave, the King dismisses his other courtiers for the day; his protégée’s visits are few and far between these days, and often far too short. There’s nothing so important going on that it can’t wait until Aqualad’s next departure.

 

“My King!” Kaldur greets his King with a bow. “I mean, your Majesties!” Kaldur attempts to correct himself as Queen Mera enters the room. She is having none of that, however.

 

Mera pulls her former student into a hug. “Don’t be like that, Kaldur. You’re our son’s godfather. That makes you family. And, as I keep telling you, family doesn’t have to be so formal.”

 

“Of course, My Queen.” Kaldur replies, only a little cheekily. She swats him lightly on the shoulder for his smirk, and steps back so her husband, too, can embrace Kaldur.

 

“But really, how are you?” Aquaman asks his apprentice. A quick glance over the younger Atlantean seems to put him in good health, and even better spirits. “You look well. Or at least, better than you have been.” Orrin hates to be too optimistic, but something seems… different about Kaldur this time. Certainly, his back and brow are straighter than they have been in years. Even Kaldur’s eyes seem to be shining with a happiness that’s been long missing.

 

“I am, My K- Orrin.” Kaldur catches himself. Even after all this time, Kaldur still can’t shake the ingrained training from his youth. Still, his Majesties’ answering smiles put him more at ease, and he can’t help but share the tale of their most recent adventures.

 

“This is wonderful news indeed!” Orrin exclaims as he finishes. “We shall have to contact the League. There should be a celebration for your accomplishments!”

 

Mera nods in eager agreement. “We’re so proud of you, Kaldur,” she says, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Uncle Kaldur?” A small voice interrupts the moment. The three Atlanteans turn to see a small mess of auburn hair peak into the room. “Uncle Kaldur! It really is you!”

 

The young boy slams into his mentor with remarkable gusto, leaving Kaldur gasping a little at the impact.

 

“Hello, Prince Arthur.”

 

“Aw, c’mon Uncle Kaldur. You’re doing the formal thing again.” The boy frowns and scuffs his shoe, a very surface-dweller-type motion that he must have picked up from Kaldur. “Does that mean you’re not going to be around long?”

 

“No, Arthur. “ His mother soothes. “Kaldur’s just been through a lot, and keeps forgetting that he’s allowed to relax around family.”

 

“Indeed.” Orrin agrees. He puts one arm over his wife’s shoulders, and another over his protégé’s, pulling his whole family close together. “I think Kaldur’s going to be with us for a long time yet.”

 

XxXxX

**Earth-16, 4 Hours AWRH**

 

“And then I bet he was like ‘Ahhh!’ and you guys were like ‘whoosh’ and-”

 

“Gar! Calm down!” M’gann pulls her little brother into a tight hug to still his movements. “It’s late, and you’re getting yourself all worked up again. You’ll never get to sleep at this rate!”

 

He pulls away only enough to rub the back of his head in chagrin. “Eh-heh. Noted. Sorry.”

 

She leans down – much less than she used to have to, she notices – and gives him a kiss on the forehead. “It’s okay.” She ruffles his hair, and he gives her another hug.

 

“I’m so glad you’re back. For good.”

 

“Me too, Gar. I’ve missed my baby brother.”

 

“Missed you too.” He mumbles into her shoulder. He must really mean it too, as he didn’t protest her calling him her ‘baby’ brother. M’gann smiles down at him. He’s going to love this.

 

“I got you something, though.”

 

“Really?” She was right. He is excited, if the way his tail is twitching is any indication.

 

“Did you brush your teeth?”

 

“Jeez, M’gann.” Gar rolls his eyes. “I’m not _five._ ”

 

“Did you?” She presses.

 

“Uh… I’ll go do that right now.”

 

This time _she_ rolls her eyes, but his quick detour to get ready for bed gives her enough time to retrieve the colorful box from her room. Gar’s thrilled when he returns. “Cool! Souvenir.”

 

She catches his hand before he can open the box.

 

“Some things were a little different in that world. J’onn track them down fro me. I thought you might want to see them, since ours were… lost when we lost Mount Justice.”

 

His face settles into solemnity as he realizes what she’s talking about. Expectations raised, he unwraps the paper slowly, almost reverently. Tears begin to form in his eyes when Gar sees what’s inside, and M’gann pulls him in for another hug.

 

“The show went a lot further in that world, huh?”

 

“Six seasons and a movie.”

 

Gar hesitates, but finally reaches out to touch seven DVD sets arranged in the box.

 

“Have you seen them yet?”

 

“No. I was hoping to watch them with you.”

 

“I would like that. I’d like that a lot. Can we watch one now?”

 

“It’s pretty late…” Gar folds his hands in a plea for her leniency, just this once. “…But I guess just one wouldn’t hurt.”

 

He opens up the first set, and lets her put the DVD into his laptop. They sit together on his bed turn out the lights, and watch the first episode of _Hello, Megan!_ to exist in their world for years

 

XxXxX

**Earth-16, 1 Day AWRH**

 

Jason’s not spying. He’s _not._ He’s making tactical observations. Of his sleeping family. It’s not weird, not with everything that’s going on. The Team’s back. They brought back Wally too. The Anomaly’s taken care of.

 

Dick says he’s home for good.

 

Jason doesn’t care ( _really_ ), but the rest of his family seems be on either end of “Yay! Dick’s back obviously we need to cuddle” to “Ha, yeah, you’re not leaving again if I have to lay on you to make sure of it.” That’s the only explanation Jason can come up with for the mass of bodies in and around Dick’s bed.

 

Oh, Jason’s sure it _started_ with Babs ambushing Dick in his own room. It probably would have worked too, if it weren’t for the demon-child’s magical cock-blocking sense going off. Dick’s too nice to push his baby brother away after being gone for so long, so that’s likely how the three ended up snuggled chastely on top of Dick’s comforter.

 

Damian’s presence is probably what drew Stephanie to curl up on the near edge of the bed. The blonde girl loves annoying Damian with kindness; it was probably worth all the inevitable kicks and complaints from Damian to sandwich him in hugs. Stephanie’s arrival is probably what brought Cass in. The former assassin has curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed, and looks utterly content to be there.

 

Jason can’t guess when the Replacement joined the rest of his family. Tim probably just bumbled in at some point, lying about needing a place to study or something. That’d explain why he’s curled up with a textbook in Dick’s window seat.

 

Whatever their motives were to begin with, they’d all fallen asleep at some point or another. Since that point, someone –Alfred, there’s really no question about it – had tucked them all in. Jason notes that Dick will be pleased to wake up under a Hello Kitty blanket.

 

Suddenly, a hand touches his shoulder, and Jason thanks his Robin training that he doesn't start and wake his siblings up. The strong arm that follows the hand and drapes across his shoulders confirms his sub-conscious expectation. He only somewhat reluctantly allows Bruce to pull him into a tight hug.

 

“It's nice to have everyone home and together, isn’t it, Chum?”

 

“Yeah, I guess. If you really think having to deal with all of Dick’s annoying quirks and made-up words and hugs is _nice.”_

Bruce squeezes him a little tighter. It’s nice; Bruce has always been big and strong and _safe._

 

“I missed having him home too, Jason. I missed him too.”

 

This time, Jason doesn’t try to lie in protest.

 

XxXxX

 

 

XxXxX

**Earth-12, 3 Days AWRH**

 

The League of Shadow’s guard passes below Shayera’s perch right on schedule, almost down to the second.

 

 _If these are the people who trained Batman, I suddenly understand_ so _much more about him._

She doesn’t say it out loud, and wouldn’t have, even if they hadn’t been operating under radio silence. Shayera knows what a big deal it was for Bruce to ask her help, and doesn’t dare needle him lest it push him back to being his former self.

 

If she’s honest with herself, though, that’s not the only reason. The truth is, she’s grateful to be here. She needs the distraction from Wally’s absence and, quite frankly, she’s pleased to have her skills recognized. Even the heroes that have accepted her past still tend to forget that as a soldier of Thanagar, she was recognized as one of the greatest in the areas of stealth and reconnaissance. As much as she usually enjoys brashly smashing things, Batman’s invitation made her realize how much she missed actually utilizing the skills she honed for years. She accepted his request for help immediately. Well, immediately after she got over the shock of being asked to help at all.

_That kid changed you Bruce, far faster than we ever would have. Between him and Artemis, I guess I have to admit that Wally’s in good hands._

Her melancholy doesn’t distract her from the task at hand. She’s too well trained for that. A moment after she finished with the thought, the loneliness in that thought is chained behind the iron walls of her mental focus. It’s probably not the healthiest way to deal with the sudden upheaval in their lives, but at least she’ll have the consolation of having been useful when these feelings come back to her later, after the mission is done.

 

The next patrol turns the corner, and Shayera makes her move.

 

In six seconds, and the guard is down, sent into unconsciousness with only a few seconds chance to silently struggle. In sixteen seconds, the body is hidden in the very shadows this organization claims for a patron. In sixty seconds, all three roaming patrols for this section are out and hidden. No alarms go off.

 

Shayera moves on like that. The guards are perfectly predictable, so as long as she moves fast enough, she can take down every man in a team before one realizes something is wrong and raises an alarm. As she moves deeper into the League of Shadow’s compound, her surroundings become increasingly opulent. Her opponent’s abilities do not seem to scale similarly, even if their numbers do.

 

Eventually, she reaches the door that Batman said leads to the quarters of one Talia al Ghul, heir to the Demon Head… and possible mother of his child. She itches with curiosity given that last fact, but doesn’t go in. She’s to rendezvous here with Batman in the next minute, and if his Shadow’s training holds he’ll be… stepping through that doorway. Right on time.

 

Shayera’s curiosity of the room isn’t relieved as the Dark Knight slips out of their enemy’s living quarters.  She’s too preoccupied by the toddler in his arms. Despite her earlier vow to be as agreeable as possible, she can’t help but smirk. “Well would you look at that? And they say _I_ got in bed with the enemy.”

 

Batman doesn’t deign to acknowledge her comment. “I may have been able to persuade Talia that this is for the best, so we shouldn’t need to run, but we can’t count on it. If Ra’s disagrees, he’ll send his men out to wherever he’ll expect me to be. The roof is the most obvious choice. Did you clear the lower levels?”

 

“I’m here, aren’t I?” This is said with much less venom than she might otherwise have used. She can’t help but feel that Bat’s (oh great, now _she’s_ using her brother’s stupid nickname) normal gruffness is just a _smidge_ overshadowed by anxiety tonight. “They were as predictable as clockwork. We should have a clear path out.”

 

They’re already moving, Batman with the toddler cradled to his chest, and Shayera with her wings spread, providing as much cover for her encumbered teammate and his innocent cargo as possible. It’s a tense, quiet few minutes, but soon enough they’re out, as silently as they came.

 

Then, they’re in the Batplane, safely charted for Gotham; League emergency teleporters were deemed too risky for the child’s development. The child – Damian – was calm throughout their whole escape, and is now apparently content to sleep in his father’s arms. Batman – _Bruce –_ has been staring down at him, though what he’s been thinking, Shayera can only guess. He still seems somewhat stunned by the whole ordeal, as if he didn’t really believe he was going to find his son here tonight.

 

“Shayera.” His voice is low, so as not to wake the boy, but pitched to get her attention. Like he isn’t aware that she’s been watching him watch the kid. “I… thank you.”

 

“Of course.” She inclines her head. Something about the sentimentality of what she’s been witnessing must have gotten to her, as she can’t help but tack on, “That’s what family’s for.”

 

Batman blanches. “This may have been a mistake. I don’t know anything about family.”

 

“Don’t worry about it so much. If nothing else, you know there’s no way you’re as bad as the alternative.”

 

Shayera’s not sure if his next exhale can be counted as a laugh or not. She adds, “Clark’s going to be insufferable about this, you know. Diana too. Ugh. I can see the cutesy faces now.”

 

That one was definitely at least a chortle, even if he does look more resigned than happy. “I suppose that’s all true. _They_ certainly won’t let me much it up too much.”

 

“None of us will, Bruce.” She thinks the Dark Knight meets her eyes, though it’s hard to tell under the cowl. Either way, he inclines his head, and returns his attention to the child in his arms.

 

Shayera allows herself a small smile. She thought things might get dull with her brother’s departure, but it looks like things aren’t going to be too boring anytime in the foreseeable future.

 

XxXxX

**Earth-12, 5 Days AWRH**

 

“Whew! Sorry I’m late, everyone! I didn’t realize quite how bad the time lag is when you’re jumping that many dimensions. Did I miss anything?”

 

“ _Wally?_ What are you doing?”

 

“Uh, it’s Wednesday at 5:30. We have our weekly founders meeting?”

 

“But, you went back to your own dimension, with your family-”

 

“Yeah, and I came back for the meeting. What, did you guys think I was irresponsible enough to skip just because I’ve been on temp leave to hang out with my family? C’mon guys. You know me better than that. Although, seriously, it’d be nice if we can keep this shortish. My Aunt was baking cookies when I left, and if I don’t get back quick, my Uncle and cousin will eat them all...”

 

The rest of the founders continue to stare at him, dumfounded.

 

“Okay… so this is getting kinda uncomfortable.” A new thought suddenly occurs to him. “Did… did you not _want_ me back?” And the pain in that one little statement unsticks the other founders. Suddenly, it’s a rush to assure the speedster that _yes_ they still love him and _of course_ they wanted him back.

 

“We just didn’t think you were coming back, what with your family all being over there.”

 

“What? First of all, that’s obviously not true,” Wally says dismissively. “Secondly, I may have taken some time off to go see everyone, but that doesn’t mean I’m irresponsible enough to miss the Weekly Meeting. Jeez, Bats, aren’t you the one that’s always telling me how important these things are?”

 

“But- you went back to _another dimension!_ ” Shayera insists.

 

Wally peers at her. He’s beginning to understand their confusion. “I think you guys are seriously confused as to how the TD tech works. I mean, yeah, it’s less convenient than just teleporting up here, but still. Three teleports is still _way_ more convenient than, for example, trying to get across Central during rush hour. Now that the Anomaly’s gone and we don’t really have to worry about stuff following us across dimensions, it’s no problem to hop back and forth. Which, again, is the reason I’d like to keep this shortish. _Aunt Iris’ Cookies_ are on the line here, guys.”

 

“Does that mean you’ll be coming back?”

 

“You guys thought I _wasn’t coming back_?  


“Maybe?” Clark offers.

 

“Smerggfn…” Wally throws his hands up in frustration. “ _Of course_ I was coming back. I, like, barely said goodbye to you guys, for one thing. I still have my job here, for another. Although, FYI, Ollie’s offering us this _awesome_ house in Star City to bribe us into living closer to him, in case a certain Billionaire Playboy wants to make a counter-offer…”

 

“No.”

 

“Darn. It was worth a shot. Artemis hates it when rich people give her things anyways. She’ll probably push for us to get another apartment closer to Keystone University or something instead- did I tell you she was going to transfer here to try and get her Doctorate? Oracle’s having a field day trying to create a fake academic background for her here… I’m getting off track again. Sorry.”

 

They’re not mad, though. Even J’onn, who had plans to keep in contact with M’gann, was operating under the assumption that Wally was going home, for good, and that they wouldn’t be seeing much of him anymore. To find out that they’re not really losing him at all… J’onn feels how pleasantly surprised – to put it mildly – his family is. He imagines there is very little that could ruffle their feathers after this news, even if Batman inevitably feels the need to try.

 

“Let us continue, then. Clark, you said Lois uncovered something about Luthor’s potential movements? What do we need to know?”

 

As simple as that, it’s back to business as usual.

 

XxXxX

**Earth-12, 53 Days AWRH**

 

They’ve convened for their weekly meeting, and are waiting for Wally when it happens.

 

“Ohhh! Hey! You guys are the _Founders!”_ A yellow and red blur rushes in. It stops for moment at the end of its sentence, revealing a young brunet in a speedster costume poking at J’onn’s cape.

 

“Howdoesthiswork? Are you, like, technically naked?” Another blur, and the boy’s next to John. “You’re the GL here, aren’t you? That’s like, totally _crash! Ibetyou’remycoursinWally’sbestfriedhere, huh?”_ The speedster’s speech is speeding up, but ‘My cousin Wally’ is clear enough to them that no one moves to take out the little chatterbox. As if in answer to their dilemma, a familiar voice suddenly echoes down the corridor.

 

“Bartholomew Allen!”

The Flash boy flinches. “Whoops! _Timetogo!”_ and then he’s gone, only to be replaced a moment later by a speeding, clearly frazzled Wally.

 

All they hear is, “WhenIgetmyhandsonhim, _sohelpme_ …” Then he, too, is gone.

 

Finally, one more scarlet blur rushes in, sans cowl. This one is a blonde man who’s quite a bit older than the other two. “Ha ha. Sorry about that, you guys.” The newcomer rubs the back of his head in chagrin. “We came over to visit Wally, then Bart got hit by some sort of ray thing, and now he’s, like, regressed to the maturity of a little kid. We’ll have him rounded up in a flash though! Haha…” The man looks more and more uncomfortable when they just stare back at him.

 

Finally, Batman stands up and heads for the door. As he passes the older speedster, he pauses. “I have to check on my son, but I’ll be back on the Watchtower in two hours. Fix this. If I find so much as a single disrupted piece of paper…” The Caped Crusader trails off, and the blonde man flinches.

 

“Haha, yessir. We’ll take care of it.” The Dark Knight seems satisfied with this reply, and continues on his way, exiting with a swish of his cape.

 

The speedster huffs. “Well. I guess I better go help my nephew wrangle up my grandson, eh? It was, uh, nice meeting you guys!” He’s gone with a cheery wave and a scarlet blur.

 

Shayera expresses their confused reactions best; she simply shakes her head and puts her face in her hands to muffle her laughter.


	36. Epilogue: Unification

Wally doesn’t forget their sixth Valentine’s Day together.

 

They do everything they can to make sure it will be special. Kaldur agrees to come over to watch Central for him. Artemis bribes one of her colleagues to take her lab shift. The League is told, in no uncertain terms, that if the world isn’t ending, they don’t want to hear about it.

 

Apparently, the third – or sixth, perhaps – time’s the charm. Their evening in Paris is completely uninterrupted. No water demons appear as they stroll past the River Seine. They’re not called for an emergency in the middle of dinner. Nothing attacks the Eiffel Tower, and they make it to the top unaccosted for the first time.

 

Artemis is admiring the beauty of Paris at night, and pretending not to notice Wally watching her when it happens.

 

“I… Artemis… wow, I had this all planned out, and it probably sounded better in my head, but I was wondering if-” Wally had been reaching for his pocket, though he obviously didn’t find what he was looking for as he began anxiously patting himself down. Artemis finally decides to take pity on the poor speedster when he breaks off his monologue and begins spinning around in a panic.

 

“Looking for this?” She pulls out a jewelry box. His eyes widen in shock and relief at the sight. “You dropped it when you ran after that chocolate vendor by the river,” she says with an indulgent smirk.

 

“Wh… See, I-” He flounders.

 

Before he compose himself enough to say anything she drops to one knee and pops open the box. “Wallace Rudolph West, will you marry me?”

 

The words are barely out of her mouth before he sweeps her up for a deep kiss. When she finally pulls back he touches his forehead to hers and simply says, “Yes.”

 

 

XxXxX

 

The Dr. Fates agree to hold a trans-dimensional barrier, temporarily merging the two watchtowers for the event (which, of course, sends M’gann into a tizzy as she tries to coordinate decorations and floor plans in two separate dimensions). Eventually, though, the day arrives, and Wally’s trying not to wear a hole in either watchtower with his pacing.

“Recognized: A16. Queen Perdita,” His first League’s Zeta tubes chime. Wally rushes to great his old – and certainly much _older_ since the last time he’s seen her – friend.

 

“Your Highness! You look stunning, as always.” The young woman lightly shakes her head in amusement.

 

“We hope you are merely being polite. No woman should outshine the bride on her wedding day.”

 

“Your Highness, if I was merely being polite when I said you are wise, kind, and beautiful, I would not feel compelled to add that there is no one who could outshine the Princess of my heart in those respects.”

 

The monarch returns his easy smile. “As it should be.”

 

“Thank you again, for agreeing to officiate for us,” he says as he leads her towards the joined main bay that will be the location of the ceremony itself.

 

“We were honored that you would ask us. Our heart was gladdened to hear you were alive. Our Knight deserves his fairytale wedding, no?”

 

XxXxX

 

Wally watches the crowd in an attempt to stop fidgeting while he waits for the ceremony to begin; M’gann will kill him if he messes his tie up again.

 

Most of both Leagues are there, as are the Team and all the civilians they’re close enough to share their identities with. M’gann explained to Wally that at most weddings, there’s a Groom’s side and a Bride’s side. His and Artemis’ loved ones are so mixed together, though, that no one even bothered to try and separate them. More surprisingly, perhaps, is that the guests didn’t even segregate themselves by dimension.

 

The Kent and Kent-Lane families, of course, chose to sit together. Probably so Kara and Conner could needle Supes about his recent data with his world’s Lois. Clark and ‘his’ Lois don’t even try to help matters. Wally hopes seeing the Lane-Kents will encourage Supes to really go after Lois. She’s good for him.

 

The J’onn’s sit stoically together in the back corner. They don’t seem to be doing much, but Wally guesses they’re probably having a mental conversation or something. Certainly they couldn’t sit that still for that long otherwise. Right? Gar sits with them, acting as a bridge between the intimidating Martians and some of his friends, all younger members of the Team.

 

The Bat Clan takes up whole row to themselves, what with Dick’s now-extensive number of siblings and allies. Bats and B make an amusing pair, sitting next to each other. They seem wary to engage in protracted socializing with their counterpart. Wally wonders if Bats would have bolted, had a certain toddler not been sitting on his lap, figuratively pinning him down. Damian-the-older keeps sneaking disgusted glances at his younger self, while said child chews on what appears to be the faux flower that should have been in Dick’s lapel.

 

Diana sits behind Bats, chatting animatedly with her counterpart, Wonder Girl and Hawk Woman. Apparently the shop-talk of a warrior is universal. Wally’s just thinking of zipping over – it would only take him a second – to make sure they don’t start pulling out weapons when the ceremony begins.

 

M’gann and Dick lead the parade of bride- and groomsmen as Best Man and Maid of Honor, or honorary sister and brother, respectively. Shayera and John, the couple’s newer ‘siblings,’ follow behind them, somehow managing not to let the awkwardness between them show. In contrast, Kaldur and Zatanna, who follow them, are clearly at ease with one another. Finally, their family members-by-blood take up the rear. It was never a question of having the two in their wedding, but still, Wally’s glad he let M’gann pair the wedding party off this way. Watching Bart and Jade try to negotiate their way down the aisle together is a mental image Wally will preserve forever.

 

At last, Artemis appears, a vision in white. She’s beautiful enough that Wally’s willing to take back all the insults he’s ever made about George Lucas’ love metaphors, for certainly there’s no _reasonable_ way to describe such a lovely image. Wally won’t later remember that Artemis stumbled just a little in the heels M’gann made her wear, or how Ollie threatened him with a glare as the Archer handed her off. The only thing he notices is the blush of her cheeks, the sparkle in her eye, and, almost absently, the tight happiness in his own chest.

 

XxXxX

 

“Do you, Wallace Rudolph West, Knight of Vlatava, also known as the Flash, founding member of the Justice League, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

 

“I, Wallace West, take Artemis to be my wife and partner forever. I will be hers to have and to hold, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, in this world or any other, as long as we both exist.”

 

“Do you, Artemis Lian Crock, also known as Tigress of The Team, also known as Artemis, of the Justice League, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

 

“I, Artemis Crock, take Wally to be my husband and partner forever. I swear not to let him get away with anything. I will be his to have and to hold, in retirement or world crisis, in frustration or tenderness, with this name or any other, as long as we both exist.”

 

“By Our power, We declare you to be, now and forever more, Husband and Wife. Our Knight? You may now kiss your Princess.”

 

Before he can move, Artemis grabs his tie and pulls him close. “We should have done this a long time ago,” she whispers against his lips.

 

“Got that right.” And he closes the small space that was left between them.

 

XxXxX

 

He's been gone for almost a week – the longest he's ever been on a mission without his partner – and is practically vibrating with joy at being home.  
  
"Hey Beautiful! I'm back!" he calls to the quiet apartment.  
  
"I'm in the kitchen!" That's odd. Usually they come to meet each other if the one of them has been gone. He shrugs it off; it takes him less than a second to get to his wife. He instantly realizes why she didn't come to him. Spread out across their kitchen table are magazines, each displaying pictures of strollers, cribs and baby outfits. Artemis is standing by the table, wringing her hands together.  
  
"Uh, babe?" He questions, because this can't be what it looks like. She has to be looking for M'gann or something...  
  
She walks over to where he's standing, and takes his hands with hers. "Wally, love? I'm pregnant."  
  
He sinks to his knees at her confirmation. He can't help it; he pushes her shirt up, and kisses her belly. "Cool," he says, grinning up at her. "Souvenir."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [What You Did In The Dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/985540) by [procellous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/procellous/pseuds/procellous)




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